(0:04 – 0:20)

Good morning to you, it’s really great to see you. Well, happy Monday. Good morning. Hang on, let me switch this a little bit there. There you go. Oh, okay.

(0:20 – 0:24)

Just looks better. Wow, does that make us talk better? Uh-huh. Oh.

(0:24 – 0:27)

Yeah, it always does. Okay, that’s awesome. It’s all good.

(0:27 – 0:35)

Wow, Monday. What’s the date? October the 12th, 2026. Wow.

(0:35 – 0:41)

Can we just say like “26” from now on? October 12th, 26. We can. Can we say that? We can. (0:41 – 0:48)

Okay, I just wonder if it’s legal. But, you know, when we’re in the insurance world, we work from, you know, expiration dates. So now everything’s 2027.

(0:49 – 0:55)

So I wrote down the wrong date on something the other day, tried to put everything in your head. It’s not even January 1 yet. I know.

(0:55 – 0:57)

Okay. I know. I know.

(0:57 – 1:06)

Well, how was your weekend? It was wonderful. Good. I think fall’s trying to touch us a little bit. (1:06 – 1:19)

We had a little bit of warmth, but we’ve had some up and down. So we had that rain a couple weeks ago that just flooded everything. Can I start my chiminea now? Yes.

(1:19 – 1:23)

Even though that they possibly say we’re still in. I know. Okay.

(1:23 – 1:27)

I don’t know. I think you can do it. I brought out like an orange sweater.

(1:28 – 1:33)

So when the police come by, I say Denise. Yeah. And that’s all there is to it. (1:33 – 1:36)

It’s so true. I love it. Love it.

(1:36 – 1:41)

Okay. What’s going on? Well, we have a lot going on this week. It’s just crazy. (1:41 – 1:48)

First of all, this is exciting for us. So we’ve talked about this and, you know, we just interviewed Bob Sullivan. That’s running for insurance commissioner.

(1:48 – 1:55)

He’s also a Big I OK member. Great. We’re holding a fundraiser for him on October 14th in Tulsa. (1:56 – 2:05)

And then on October 15th in Oklahoma City, both of those are fundraisers. We obviously want to show him support from his fellow agents. This is a really big deal.

(2:06 – 2:24)

I can’t even begin to tell you how cool we have a Big I OK agent that is running for Congress. And we have a Big I OK member that is in the general election for insurance commissioner. So I’ve always said whenever I first started doing this years ago, I didn’t have any in the legislature or anything.

(2:24 – 2:33)

Now I have just a plethora of them. So I have on national, state, legislature. I probably have city council members.

(2:33 – 2:36)

Who knows? You are popular. I know. It’s very exciting.

(2:36 – 3:00)

So anyway, I, you should, I know we’re sending out a few promos and things like that on those fundraisers, but please show up and just let, you know, ask Bob questions. He is, he is very excited about what he’s doing and kind of, you know, some of the things that he has ideas for, which are really, really cool. So I would encourage you to respond to that email and gives you all

the information that you need.

(3:00 – 3:08)

And then we will send out probably a couple more, even though I know we’re two days away. Yeah. It should be on the calendar as well.

(3:08 – 3:15)

They are there. So if anyone has any questions on that, jump on to BIGiOK.com/calendar. Okay.

(3:15 – 3:21)

Well, education on the 16th, again, this week, we have free Friday ethics, free. We’ll say it again. Free.

(3:21 – 3:33)

Did you say free? I know. And then on October 22nd, put this on your calendar is InsurBanc is having a webinar. I can’t tell you how important this is.

(3:33 – 4:01)

And InsurBanc does a phenomenal job on it, on internal perpetuation and back to fundamentals. And so it’s going to be with a guy from Reagan consulting, but perpetuation, you know, from my dad’s generation, they perpetuated from within. I mean, I was with my dad’s agency and my brother, but now we’re looking at so many mergers and acquisitions that I think insure bank has done a really good job and saying, well, what if you want to do it this way? This is going to be great information.

(4:01 – 4:05)

Put it on your calendar. And it’s also free. So you can’t ask for anything better.

(4:06 – 4:09)

Get lit. So that’s at the end of the month with Catalyit. Okay.

(4:10 – 4:15)

Member. Should we say get lit? Like get lit. You do it better than I do.

(4:15 – 4:19)

Right. Okay. So as a Big I member, you’re part of Catalyit.

(4:19 – 4:22)

So you get to go to this tech webinar. I love it. It’s a tech webinar.

(4:22 – 4:32)

So that means that it’s technology and you don’t have to drive down to Austin, even though that would be fun. There will be a lot of specific AI discussions. What I’m understanding.

(4:32 – 4:35)

Yeah. Yeah. That’s really true.

(4:35 – 4:47)

So October 28th and 29th, it’s just a couple of hours each day. So you log into it. And then October 29th, the young agents, of course, I have a community service project with free to live animal sanctuary.

(4:47 – 4:55)

So sign up for that. They always have a really good turnout and we’re trying to do their part for the community. So I really appreciate that.

(4:55 – 5:00)

That’s good. So busy, busy. I’m so excited about today.

(5:00 – 5:07)

We have another special guest. Yes, we do. And this has been, you know, I got to know Niki. (5:08 – 5:19)

I don’t know, two or three years ago. And have just watched her from afar. And I mean, if nothing

else just follow her social media because it’s probably some of the best I’ve ever seen. (5:20 – 5:27)

So we’re thrilled to have her. She serves on our board of directors. She’s our new, she’s one of our newest members.

(5:27 – 5:35)

She’s insightful. I love it because sometimes people sit on boards and they don’t, they don’t have any input. She gives us a lot of input.

(5:35 – 5:45)

She’s very excited. She’s very excited about the insurance industry. And so today we’re welcoming Niki Henley from Owasso, America.

(5:46 – 5:59)

And recently she was just named by the Tulsa world as the best insurance agent in the world. Like how cool is that? There we go. Yeah.

(6:00 – 6:05)

In the world. So very exciting. I’m sure she is.

(6:05 – 6:15)

If you just follow her social media, then, you know, enough of that. So, Hey Niki, how are you? I’m good. How are you doing? How is it out there in Owasso today? It’s good.

(6:15 – 6:22)

I just want to note that those showgirls and that picture are not part of my team. They were just there for fun. Okay.

(6:22 – 6:25)

Oh, okay. In case there was any confusion. Oh, that’s so funny.

(6:26 – 6:29)

So you’re you’re the showgirls don’t come to work. That’s right. Okay.

(6:29 – 6:37)

Okay. I don’t, I don’t even think I caught that, but I’m glad you brought that up. Otherwise you’d be

like, she’s also not only she’s the best agent, she has a really fun office.

(6:38 – 6:44)

They dress for their day. Just like Vegas every day.

(6:44 – 6:49)

So, well, cool. We’re excited that you’re on with us today. Thanks for taking, taking the time. (6:51 – 7:04)

First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself and your role in the insurance industry. How’d you get started and how’d you get to be where you are now? I got started kind of like a lot of people where you just. Got fell into it.

(7:04 – 7:14)

I had applied for a job at AAA thinking it was a towing company position. And then they said, oh, you have to take a test before you can start. And so it started this slowly.

(7:15 – 7:21)

Unravel. And then once I got into it, I loved it. The sales piece was kind of my background. (7:21 – 7:29)

I did infomercials when my kids were little overnight before the internet. You know, you call. The infomercial line.

(7:29 – 7:38)

In the middle of the night, I was answering those calls and, and selling those products. Okay. There’s going to be some people that are going to watch this that aren’t even going to know what an infomercial.

(7:39 – 7:45)

I’m like, is there copies of. Where you call a winning head or number. To order a product. (7:45 – 7:51)

Yeah. I’m going to ask our joke is we always say to Shania. Do you know what that is? So we’ll have to ask.

(7:51 – 7:54)

She knows what that is. Okay. That’s a cool background.

(7:54 – 8:04)

So kind of my background. I just fell into helping people along with the sales. It’s kind of a unique role to be able to sell something that’s worthwhile.

(8:05 – 8:13)

And meaningful to people and that you’re really helping them. And so it just kind of came natural to me. And I had worked at a couple of captive agencies.

(8:14 – 8:24)

State farm, AAA. A couple of independents and. I didn’t really feel like the customers were being served. They weren’t really looked out to be protected.

(8:25 – 8:38)

And I worked in good, good agencies. You know, every time you’re in something where you’re working for somebody else, it’s easy to say I could do it better. And so I decided to go out on my own.

(8:38 – 8:43)

After about. I think five years in the industry. As a producer.

(8:43 – 8:52)

So when did you start your agency then? 2019 of January. Oh, just before COVID. That’s a great time to start an agency.

(8:52 – 8:59)

Yes. COVID hit right at my first year renewals. Right when you’re about to start hiring somebody. (8:59 – 9:07)

So it was, it was good. It if I could get through that. The rest of this hard market, all of that’s pretty easy compared to.

(9:08 – 9:27)

COVID. First year. Well, now I’m interested.

You kind of, yeah, you. Piqued my interest. So what did you do then? First year renewal and then

another year of COVID.

So then what? So did you kind of, were you on your own or did you have. I was on my own in the beginning. And then a high school senior who couldn’t go to school, you know, and was trying to get prepared for a college of it ever open back up. Approached and asked if I would hire her. So I hired a very smart high school senior to come in and she actually, when she took the test was the youngest.

(9:41 – 9:47)

Licensed agent in Oklahoma at the time. She was barely 18, I think.

(9:48 – 9:59)

Yeah. So we just kind of knocked it out. And then I hired a VA very quickly after that as well to, to help on the service side, because it was very difficult to find any employees during COVID.

(9:59 – 10:07)

Oh, yeah. Our office was open as an essential, essential. I don’t remember what that was called, but.

(10:07 – 10:29)

So I needed help and we needed to be open and nobody really wanted to come in to the office. So during that time you had an office space. I did.

Okay. Okay. And so then, yeah, I mean, I, I remember that too.

That was really, it was hard. Yeah. Yeah.

What was that called? All the words we used to know about COVID we don’t even know anymore. Like an essential worker or something like that. Yeah.

(10:29 – 10:33)

Something like that. Yeah. I had actually opened in a mortgage company when I started. (10:33 – 10:43)

I was like, Hey, a referral partner. Can I sit in this chair? Just I need a phone and a laptop. And they were gracious enough because I’d worked with them for a while.

(10:43 – 10:49)

I was there for 90 days and then. Yeah, about 90 days. And then I was able to get a space here. (10:49 – 11:03)

So are you in the same space? I’m in the office right next door. So very close. We just upgraded to the bigger space after a while.

Okay. So tell us now. So you hired a high school student.

(11:03 – 11:11)

That was very smart. I concur with all of this. And did you tell that high school student that once they get sucked into the insurance industry, they can never get out.

(11:11 – 11:36)

I tried, I tried after the world came back to normal. She ended up going back to her regular career path, but. She was very helpful at the time.

That’s awesome. I needed some help. Okay.

So you’re still not by yourself. So, so since then, tell us a little bit about your evolution to now 2026. There’s been a lot as far as employee wise.

(11:36 – 11:47)

I’ve had multiple VA virtual assistants. Okay. And very helpful to my agency, allowing me to work like a much bigger agency than I, than I am.

(11:47 – 11:58)

And I have grown to love the Philippines. And one has been there almost five years now with me. And so, you know, they, they’re just amazing employees.

(11:58 – 12:04)

And I call them employees. They’re, they’re my employees. They are just like my remote workers who live here in Tulsa.

(12:05 – 12:12)

To us, there’s, there’s no difference. So they’ve helped out a lot. And I’ve had different producers and CSRs over the years.

(12:12 – 12:27)

And right now we have, I have two licensed and two VAs. I’ve had up to six at some point total. But I realized more doesn’t equal better.

Right. All the time. And so.

(12:27 – 12:43)

Well, that you were an early adopter of VAs then, because we, I mean, we have one also, we agree exactly the same. And he he’s on our team meetings all the time and interact and we’ll give him a hard time about anything. So it’s, it’s great.

(12:43 – 13:13)

But that was back when you were doing it, that was very, very early on because a lot weren’t doing that. So what did you, did you find out about it or what made you kind of decide to use that as part of your business plan? So one thing that has helped me early on is networking within our industry, kind of with people in the big eye and also in the national other agencies all across the United States. And I did that very early on because I wanted to see what was out there in this new business venture I was going at.

(13:14 – 13:26)

And so some of the other states were way ahead of Oklahoma and those type of things. So I was doing things like video quoting before COVID, which is what right now it’s like, Oh, that’s normal. It’s true.

(13:26 – 14:06)

That was the groundbreaking technology, not AI, but that I was filming my quote proposals. And so there had been some people on the national scene that had been using VA. So I just started picking their brain and figuring out how to do it and how to set it up, how to do security.

And it just, it took a little time, but trial and error and ended up being the best thing I’ve ever done. Well, now those VA companies, they kind of have it down to a fine art. It’s pretty, it’s a smooth transition now.

So yeah, I actually have all mine direct and I’ll use a VA company. Not for any other reason that I figured it out early. Yeah.

(14:06 – 14:37)

And it was before they had VA companies, I’m sure. There was a couple, but it’s so funny. Cause the cost of living in Oklahoma is so low and the VA companies the pricing was pretty high back then.

And I could, you know, I could hire someone local for $11, $12 an hour, you know, unlicensed. Yeah. So anyways, that has been an adventure, the employees and VAs and learning all that on your own.

(14:37 – 14:51)

But the VA definitely has been a big help. Well, yeah, I was going to say, so AI is kind of changing the game, which is, you know, all the big, you know, I, I’m looking at my email, like, that’s all the big thing right now. So I think again, we’re in a paradigm shift.

(14:51 – 15:03)

You know, VA’s was very fast moving at the very beginning. Now we have AI. So how, how do you think that’s changing the industry? I think it’s changing so fast.

(15:03 – 15:16)

We can’t even define it because every day there’s something new. The thing that I love about AI, it’s so accessible. So even as a very small agency, I don’t have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars for this technology.

(15:16 – 15:28)

I can play with it myself and figure it out. And that’s kind of what I’ve, what I’ve been doing is trying to build things on my own. And it’s so much easier whereby I had to try to build any technology.

(15:28 – 16:07)

I wouldn’t have known how to do any of this on my own. So that’s what I love about is that it’s making technology accessible to many more people than it ever has. You know, it’s really true.

You know, when, just before we came online, you know, I was telling you that my 90 year old dad, you know, always talks about the agency and it’s so completely different. So everything he had to do, he had to build, I mean, he had grit, you know, because you just build it from scratch. And now we have the, it’s almost like having just a full-time assistant all the time because that’s how easy it is.

So, okay. So you’re, you are new on our board. We’re just so thrilled.

(16:08 – 16:24)

And so tell us a little bit about what inspired you to even agree to do that? Because I know you’re busy. We know you have a lot to go on, but I love it because you’re willing to give back to the industry and to our association. So tell us why, why you kind of like being on the board, why you

agreed to it.

(16:25 – 16:37)

Well, I had been, I joined the Big I early on. Shania just showed up at my agency, which I’m very thankful for, and told me about it. And at the time I was kind of on an Island, like just looking for help anywhere I could get.

(16:38 – 17:27)

Like I’d talked about earlier national things and like, how do I figure this agency thing out on my own? And so very early I started using the resources for the Big I, whether it was markets or using, you know, getting the worker comp policies through you guys, or just questions that the ask agent on the national Big I, it was so helpful when you, when you own an agency, who do you go, go to if you don’t have any allies like that, that you can trust. And so I had been utilizing, I started working on my designation as the Big I. So I’d already been very active going to the conferences and just soaking it up.

And so when I got the phone call, I can’t remember who it was. One of the Vaughn, Vaughn. Vaughn junior.

(17:27 – 17:29)

Yeah. Vaughn junior. Yeah.

(17:29 – 17:44)

Had called and left a message with one of my employees, like, Oh, someone just called and said, they want you on the Big I board. I was like, what? That’s so cool. And I, it’s actually been a year now that I’ve been on it.

(17:45 – 18:18)

And so at the time I didn’t really know a ton about what was happening behind the scenes. But then when I started to learn more about it, that me in Oklahoma, my little small agency in Owasso, I can have the chance to have an impact on all of Oklahoma independent agents and kind of represent other women and other agencies and agents and, and actually be able to, you know, make change. And what, what other industry can you, can you do that? And so I jumped on it.

(18:18 – 18:45)

And then once I got in there, I’m realizing that. I mean, I would say you took it like fish to water, because here’s what I appreciate most of what you do is that as you all, as you’re aware, I send out, I try to send out as much information to our board as possible. So they’re, you know, aware

of legislation, things like that.

I mean, you get financials, you get everything. Here is what I really enjoyed about you. You have embraced it as a board member.

(18:45 – 19:04)

And a lot of times you’re going to respond to me because there’s a lot of ebb and flow of all of this. You’re always so good about why do, why do we need to do what can I help you with? And then, Hey, let me make sure I understand. And that’s a really engaged board member, you know, because so many times we end up, you know, I serve on a ton of boards.

(19:04 – 19:14)

I look up every day and I don’t know what board I’m going to show up on. And so you have to be, you have to be engaged in the thing you’re doing. And so I think that’s where I can see that you’re making a difference.

(19:14 – 20:01)

So I really, really appreciate that about you. So it’s been fun. Have you enjoyed getting to know the other board members? I have.

That’s been another one of my favorite things. Sometimes I feel bad because I feel like I’m getting more out of the board that I’m giving because I’m just in being in a room with a lot of very smart people from a bunch of different areas of insurance. I’m being exposed to things in the insurance industry that some things I had never even been exposed to.

And so it’s been really great just seeing all the wonderful people who are willing to contribute and want to give their time for that kind of thing. So I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but when I first started serving on the board way back in the olden days, it was, I was from an agency. It was me and my mom and my dad.

(20:01 – 20:13)

So there were three people. Is that the 1900s? It was the 1900s. And it, I felt, I thought, Oh, I am not qualified to even sit here.

(20:13 – 20:45)

And it was like people from very large agencies and people that had been in the business 20 and 30 years. And I was like, what am I doing? So I felt the same as you. And it was so funny because I probably got as much or more out of it than, than they ever did.

But it has it probably elevated some of the things that we’ve got to do in our small agency,

just because it gave me different ideas. I didn’t understand the legislative process at all in our industry. I learned a ton about that.

(20:45 – 21:38)

And it made me realize how important it is that we’re, that we’re part of that. So, so, so interesting. So if you were going to give advice to someone that’s a Big I member, so they’re just, they’re like, well, I’m going to sign up.

I need, I needed access to a couple of companies or I need some education. Tell me some of the things that you would encourage someone to become more involved. I think as anything, it’s, you know, what you put into it, that’s what you’re going to get out of it.

Just, well, either getting with Shania and hearing about all the different things you can do, just looking on the website, the education has always been good, but as you know, the last year has gotten even better. The things we can do through the Big I  and get some discounts on education. I would definitely jump on that as soon as you can.

(21:39 – 21:55)

That’s one of the big things that helped me early on. Attending the events is also something that’s been big for me. It’s allowed me to network with other people who are doing the same thing as me where I can, you know, have an ally there or somebody I can reach out to in person.

(21:57 – 22:14)

There’s so many things that it has helped me with. I’m trying to think of all the different things. I just go on the website when I have a question that I need an answer, I check there first.

And there usually is some sort of answer there for me. That’s exactly what we want to hear. Please tell everyone, I did not pay you to say that.

(22:15 – 22:21)

You did not. Like I said, I was doing this before I even was on the board. It was an easy yes when that happened.

(22:22 – 22:32)

Well, so what do you think is, so, you know, we live in a world now of a lot of captive agencies. We have independent agents. Tell me why you think it’s important to be an independent agent.

(22:35 – 22:52)

I think it for one gives us the way more options for our customers. It allows us to really hone in on

their unique needs and find a fit for them. And Oklahoma is unique too, because we have so many markets.

(22:52 – 23:04)

You know, I have other agents in other states talking about, you know, having to send people to the fare plan and all that type of thing. And I’m like, well, I’ve never not had a market. Like we have all the markets.

(23:04 – 23:12)

And so you have to be independent to be able to access that for your customers. You never have to say no. I never feel like you ever have to say no.

(23:12 – 23:36)

I have so many people right now, you know, things are expensive and they have older roofs that are fine and, you know, in good shape and, you know, they’ve been canceled from their companies or they just have nowhere to turn. And I’m like, Oh my God, like four carriers that will take a roof that age and able to help them out in that way. And so just those types of things, be able to help customers in ways that if you’re any other type of agent, you’re just not able to do.

(23:38 – 23:52)

I agree. I mean, I think you said it best when you said we’re just, we’re in the industry to help people, you know, they can’t live in, you know, nice houses. I can’t drive nice cars without insurance because we just can’t afford to.

(23:52 – 24:03)

That’s the reality. So I always feel that the business that we’re in makes other people successful, whether it be in their personal lives or in their businesses. So I love being an independent agent.

(24:03 – 24:09)

I was, I mean, my dad was started in 1964. So hugely important. I’ve seen it be a big benefit. (24:10 – 24:17)

So saying all that boy, we’ve kept you on here for quite a while. We appreciate your time. Now, Jerry’s going to do the fun stuff.

(24:17 – 24:34)

He’s going to do a little bit of fast answering, but you don’t even have to study for this. Thank you for being here. We enjoyed it.

We have a, we have a board meeting at the end of the month. So I’ll look forward to seeing you then. Yeah.

Thank you for having me. So Niki, just a really quick question. And this is a, a unfun. (24:35 – 25:01)

I mean, it’s not in the fun questions. Can you kind of give us a background of your tech stack? You talk about, you know, usually using different tools and such. What are you using? Well, there’s a lot.

So my main agency management system, we’re on Hawksoft. We use Agency Zoom for our CRM customer relationship manager. I was trying to get that out.

(25:01 – 25:12)

All the acronyms. We are using all the Microsoft 365 products. Teams use Cognito forms for our intake forms.

(25:12 – 25:25)

We use Zapier to do a lot of connections and automations. We’re using Lightspeed for our phone system. We are using multiple AIs.

(25:29 – 25:38)

Copilot, Gemini and Claude are the ones we’re paying for the agency to use. And I’m trying to think if I missed anything. Those are the main ones.

(25:39 – 25:40)

That’s good. Yeah. Yeah.

(25:40 – 25:52)

That kind of gives it, I mean, because there’s a lot of times we go to conferences and such and they talk up here, but to know exactly how AI and tech and everything is working. With boots on the ground. Yeah.

(25:52 – 26:13)

Boots on the ground. Right. Okay.

So here comes the hard questions. Denise, you got my timer? Oh, wait. You said a timer.

I know I’m on charge of this every single time. It’s all good. It’s all good.

I need to put that in the notes. Yeah. Remind me how many, how much time do we have? We’re going to go 45 seconds.

I almost said minutes, but that would be doing. Yeah. Okay.

(26:14 – 26:30)

Okay. 45 seconds. You ready? Go.

All right. Niki, beach or mountains? Beach. Beach.

Okay. Sweet or salty? Sweet. Okay.

Favorite Oklahoma restaurant? Oh, that’s a lot. Pass, pass. Go to the next one. (26:31 – 26:46)

Okay. First job? State Farm.

Okay. Favorite insurance term? That’s a hard one. ATIMA.

A-T-I-M-A. Okay. All right.

(26:47 – 26:57)

Book or movie? Movie. Dress shoes or sneakers? Dress shoes. Best career advice? Just do it. (26:58 – 27:03)

Okay. Hidden talent? Hidden talent. Oh, there’s so many.

(27:03 – 27:10)

Oh, there are. Okay. I can play multiple brass instruments.

(27:10 – 27:17)

Very nice. All right. Dream dinner guest? They’re so hard.

(27:19 – 27:25)

You just finished your time. Dream dinner guest. That can be alive or pass away. (27:26 – 27:36)

That’s so hard. I’m going to say my kids, because they both live out of state or out of our way.

You got my heart.

(27:36 – 27:42)

Very good. Very good. Awesome.

Awesome. Well, thank you very much. We enjoyed this.

(27:42 – 27:46)

Yeah, it was really great. All right. Well, Denise.

(27:47 – 28:01)

We did it. I’m going to say so long. Okay.

Happy October. Have a good week. Niki, have a great week as well. It is October. It’s crazy. Oh, my goodness.

I’m going to be thinking about that insurance term all night. There you go. There you go. (28:02 – 28:05)

We’ll see you all later. Thank you. Bye.

(28:05 – 28:05)

Bye-bye.