YAC Spotlight: Trey Sinclair

All Resources

Modified: September 27, 2023

Article

Author: FAIA Newsroom

For our first YAC Spotlight, we sat down with the president of Wells Insurance and 2022 YAC Chair Trey Sinclair. Father of two and self-proclaimed “video game nerd,” Trey told us why he decided to pursue a career in insurance, shared advice for college students on the fence about majoring in Risk Management, and explained why he thinks dogs are better than cats by a longshot. 

Trey SinclairWells-Insurance-Headshots-3-11-22-(Edited)-(33-of-40)-(1).jpg

President, Wells Insurance

Location: Macclenny, FL
Years as a YAC member: About four years
 
When and why did you decide to pursue a career in insurance? 
  • Insurance found me, and I don’t think that’s an uncommon answer for a lot of folks in insurance. My dad ran a small insurance agency, and one day he called me (I was working as a loan officer at the time) and said he wanted to retire and sell the business. And I thought, “This is an opportunity to learn about the industry.” When I got to the agency, I really started learning more about the industry and fell in love with it, so I’m a lifer now. 

Who has made the biggest impact on your career up to this point? 

  • I would say former FAIA President & CEO Jeff Grady because when I ran into him, I was just a guy at a conference who didn’t know anyone. I really had no contacts outside of the four walls of my office, but I wrote Jeff a letter after our brief interaction, and that was the segue into getting more involved with the Young Agents Council (YAC), Florida’s Future Insurance Leaders (FFIL), and the FAIA’s Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy Council. I think that letter ultimately became the snowball that helped me get to where I am and changed the trajectory of my insurance career. 

Why did you choose to join the Young Agents Council? 

  • I love being a part of the bigger picture. For me, I knew so little about the industry that I made it my mission to be a sponge and absorb all I could. I just felt like there was a lot out there, so I needed to be part of something where I could connect with like-minded people and accelerate my learning. 

What advice would you offer college students unsure of majoring in Risk Management? 

  • I would say that insurance is ripe for a new generation to shape it to be more like what they expect the industry to be. If you are a young person and you’re on the fence about whether to pursue Risk Management, consider that the new people entering the industry now are changing the culture of insurance. They are helping shape the interaction between the client and the carrier and preparing what the agency model will look like going forward. If you’re the type of person who wants to improve the world, I would say insurance is a great career path for you because you will be a part of that coming change.

Tell us about the importance of building and maintaining relationships in the insurance community as a young agent.  

  • As an agent or producer or underwriter or whatever your role is in the industry, you want a better outcome for the insured, and a lot of that involves forecasting and trying to imagine yourself in their place. You have to care about your client to be able to put them in a better situation. The easy way out is selling the cheap, stripped-down, robotic coverage policy based on price. But it’s really the human element added in between the carrier and the client that makes insurance special. 

How would you help the next generation become interested in a career in insurance? 

  • Well, I would tell them to consider the following: People in insurance tend to be lifers after surviving the initial “are you going to make it in the industry or not” phase. Many agents stay well past their expected retirement age. This is a very long-term career, and while it may be hard for a young person to see that far down the road, there’s a competitive advantage to dipping your toes in early. It can be daunting and overwhelming if you wait, but if you start early when you’re young, it’s the best time to join the industry. 

In your opinion, what is the most valuable skill that a young agent can have? 

  • If you are a thoughtful person, you will do well in this industry. A thoughtful person tends to be thorough and tends to care about the outcome of their client. If you are that type of person, I don’t care about your selling skills or what you do or don’t know about insurance, the other stuff will take care of itself.

What do you do for fun? 

  • I am a video game nerd. I’ve always been a video game nerd and will probably continue to be a video game nerd. I like playing shooter games with my friends, team objective-based games like Overwatch, and history-based games like Age of Empires.

Who do you admire and why? 

  • Without a doubt, my dad. Even though we lock antlers and have differing opinions, he’s an American hero. He’s a man with impeccable integrity, and I aspire to be a man like my dad. 

Are cats or dogs better and why? 

  • Dogs by a country mile. Show me a bomb-sniffing cat, or show me a seeing-eye cat. Cats don’t do anything for people and think we’re the pets. Dogs are loyal to a fault and will sacrifice themselves for you—no question, dogs all the way.