YAC Spotlight: Sam Grieves

For our next YAC Spotlight, we sat down with Sam Grieves, a commercial broker at Brier Grieves Agency. Sam, who works with his dad at his family’s agency, shared what advice he would give to college students considering a risk management degree, told us what he thinks is the most valuable skill a young agent can have, and explained where he sees himself in five years.  

Sam Grieves

Commercial Broker

• It's got to be my dad. He pioneered the path for me, being in it for so long and seeing how hard he worked as I was a kid growing up. As a young person going through college, he helped me through my risk management degree and gave me the advice to be a broker for a few years before coming to the independent agency side. I'm blessed and fortunate to get to learn from him, both the mistakes he made and successes he had, and he shares those with me as I grow my career as an independent agent. Hopefully, I can take over for him one day and perpetuate all the great things he's done. 

• Looking back on it, I would 100 percent encourage myself or anyone else that's on the fence to go for it. The opportunity after graduation is incredible. You can kind of go in any direction and the industry you want. Once you have that RMI degree, you can work on the carrier side, the agency side, the wholesale broker side, or anything else involving Insurance. You can go anywhere in the nation with it, too, once you get your first couple of years of experience. 

• FAIA really opened my eyes up as far as the togetherness of the insurance industry. We have like five agencies within a couple miles of our office, but we're friends with each of them and we bounce ideas off each other. I think FAIA personifies that mindset that while we’re technically competitors, we're still here to help each other in any way we can with tough accounts or tough situations, sharing perspective and ideas. I can't speak to the rest of the country, but I think there's a great atmosphere for collaboration here in Florida and those relationships are invaluable. 

• I'm in a unique position with my dad owning the agency, so I do a lot of operational tasks like hiring and mentoring and act as a support system for our people however I can. Getting to see our people in the office succeed and grow in their careers is incredible. It's a proud moment to see someone go from an entry-level position to being able to handle any kind of situation our clients might throw at them. That part is really fulfilling to me. 

• Insurance is something that everyone's always going to need. On the surface, it can seem like a boring industry, but I think the great people within the industry really make it worthwhile and will make you want to strive for more. Every FAIA conference I go to, I feel energized and motivated by all the other agents we're surrounded by. There’s such a strong backbone in our industry through FAIA, and if you’re a young person who likes to help people, this could be a great industry for you.  

• Being humble and hungry is what my dad told me before I started working for him. You can't just come in and act like you know everything because you have an RMI degree or because you have family in the business. Showing humility to the people you work with and the clients that you serve is huge, especially for a young agent. Be a sponge, suck up your pride, and learn as much as you can from the people around you. Then, be personable in your own way. There's so much, even just over a phone call, that you can learn about a client if you take the time to ask questions and open up to people so that they feel comfortable opening up to you.  

• They would probably say I’m someone who is always trying to plan something or do something fun with my friends, whether it’s going on a trip or watching football or going out on the boat. But they’d also say I’m someone that's always there to help if they have a project at the house or need help moving. 

• The last novel I read was a book called A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith. It's a historical fiction that talks about the state of Florida in the early settler times and 1800s all the way up to the 1960s. Florida used to be covered with wild lands, then switched to cow pastures, then to orange groves. The book follows the history and progression of that, and it ends with big condos and office buildings in Miami. It is a great book I would recommend to anyone that's interested in Florida’s history. 

• When people say they will commit to something, and don’t follow through. I also hate it when people leave cabinets, doors, and drawers open.  

• Well, I'll still be right here in Tampa, I'm sure. I’m hoping to help my dad get to a position where he can take his foot off the gas and let me drive the ship, so to speak, with day-to-day operations and running the agency. I'd also really like to continue to be involved with FAIA. There's something about the political side of the association that really draws me in because I think there's no better way to show your customers that you're committed to doing the best job for them than showing up to Tallahassee and meeting with legislators to make positive change for them.