The Inspired Stories Podcast

🎙️ Youngest Branch Manager in Company History: John Reed's Path to Founding JAG Insurance AgencyIn this episode, John Reed, founding president and CEO of JAG Insurance Agency, shares a career that began as an 11-year-old newspaper carrier and stretched through the Marine Corps, two decades in newspaper and media publishing, and a September 11th newscast that finally pushed him into insurance for good. John opens up about quitting a six-figure executive job the same day his insurance license arrived, the $223,000 in debt he carried the day he left his prior company, and how a book his wife set on his desk helped him reinvent himself once more to build JAG.✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:Became the youngest branch manager in his newspaper company's history by age 15Left insurance sales twice before committing full time, once after trying to serve “two masters”Watched the September 11th attacks unfold live on a warehouse TV the morning after deciding to quit his media jobQuit his six-figure senior VP role the same day his insurance license came through in DecemberTurned an unwanted stack of leads in a distant, overlooked territory into his first major sales successBuilt the second-fastest growing agency in his company's history within six months of relocating to FresnoWatched his prior company convert independent agency owners into employees and cut his pay 40% in 2009Was $223,000 in debt and sold personal belongings, including signed sports memorabilia, before founding JAGNamed JAG using his daughter's childhood idea, combining the initials of John, Ariel, and GloriaBuilt JAG around exclusively representing A-rated carriers with genuine living benefits, rather than a broad carrier list🌟 John's Key Mentors:Nevin: The agency owner who first hired him, taught him his foundational sales philosophy, and later sold him the Upland agency for a fraction of its worthHis Wife, Gloria: His business partner and co-founder who supported multiple career reinventions and helped inspire the JAG nameHis Daughter, Ariel: Invented the JAG name as a seven-year-old, later becoming one of its three founding initialsZig Ziglar: A personal mentor John met and spent time with multiple times before Ziglar's passing, whose group even visited John's office👉 Hear how a lifelong overachiever who quit a six-figure job the same day he got licensed rebuilt himself from $223,000 in debt to found an insurance agency built on trust and real living benefits.🔗 Connect with John Reed:Website: jag-insurance.com📄 Transcript Available: JAG Insurance Agency's John Reed on Why “The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It”📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom lineWebsite: addbackbenefits.com

Josh Ramsey, CPA and Managing Director at Cherry Bekaert, taught himself Excel in a casino count room in 2000 because nobody else would, got promoted off the back of a spreadsheet nobody asked him to build, and spent the next decade earning a degree at 34 with four kids, a mortgage, and his father’s passing three weeks before his first day at Cal State Long Beach. The career pivot that followed — a 25 percent pay cut to start over as a staff accountant at a public accounting firm — paid off across nearly 12 years of fractional CFO work, MA advisory, and deals ranging from Friday cash crises to COVID-era add-backs bigger than the EBITDA itself.✨ Key Insights You’ll Learn:Building an Excel spreadsheet in a casino count room in 2000 that earned him a promotion nobody expectedWhy practical coursework at a community college stuck when a traditional four-year path hadn’tGoing back to school full-time with four kids, a mortgage, and his father’s death three weeks before transferTaking a 25 percent pay cut to start at the bottom of a public accounting firm and why it was the right callWhy public accounting’s pyramid structure rewards long-term builders in a way private accounting never canWhat the Friday cash crisis call actually looked like and why the fix took six months, not a weekendThe 13-week rolling cash flow as a triage tool and the human psychology of walking business owners down the mountainThe COVID-era food packaging deal where the add-back exceeded the EBITDA — and how they sold itWhat consistently adds value to a deal: transition plans, clean financials, and knowing your walk-away number before you go to marketThe $10 million financing lease gotcha that hit 90 days after close because nobody read the agreement right🌟 Josh’s Key Mentors:Romy (Cage Manager, Gardens Casino): Recognized the count room spreadsheet for what it was and promoted Josh into accounting — the first dominoJeff Richardson (Founding Partner, RKE): The man Josh kept showing up to meet at Beta Alpha Psi events until he finally just asked for a jobCharmaine (RKE Consulting Partner): The first person who showed Josh what the consulting work actually looked like and matched it to his skill setHis Wife: Stepped in completely when his father died three weeks before his first day of university, managing the estate and the household so Josh could keep moving👉 Don’t miss this conversation about what it actually means to start over with everything on the line, why the hardest part of a cash crisis isn’t the math, and how a casino count room in Torrance, California turned out to be the best accounting school Josh Ramsey ever attended.🔗 Connect with Josh Ramsey:Website: cbh.com📤 Transcript Available: Josh Ramsey Took a 25 Percent Pay Cut to Start Over at the Bottom and Did It With Four Kids and a Mortgage📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📤 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency — Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line. Website: addbackbenefits.com

🎙️ From Cold Texting to True Texas Church Insurance: Ron Wadley's Path to Insurance for TexansIn this episode, Ron Wadley, owner and general solver of problems at Insurance for Texans, shares how a childhood spent in small Texas and Missouri towns, a broken marriage, and a captive insurance career too limited to solve his clients' real problems led him to build one of the state's most creative independent agencies. Ron opens up about the divorce that nearly broke him, the friends who put him back together, and how his agency built a specialty church insurance program that stepped in when a major Texas insurer abandoned the market.✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:Grew up in small Texas and Missouri towns as a preacher's son, sometimes unsure where the next meal would come fromAttended Baylor University on a scholarship funded by a stranger with no connection to his hometownOpened a captive Farmers insurance agency in 2013 after leaving corporate life behindReceived a cease and desist after hyper-targeting employees of a specific company in his digital adsLaunched Insurance for Texans as a separate, initially anonymous brand to escape his captive agency's brand biasSold his Farmers agency and converted Insurance for Texans into a full independent brokerage in 2017Grew the business 30% in the final nine months of 2020 by already operating fully through video and digital toolsBuilt a specialty church insurance program after a major Texas insurer non-renewed roughly 30% of the state's churchesWrote “The Promise of Certainty,” outlining 14 types of coverage churches often overlookHosts a podcast using an AI voice clone built from his own writing, one his wife and mother can barely distinguish from him🌟 Ron's Key Mentors:His First Corporate Boss: Took a chance hiring him with zero experience, then years later helped him find a better-paying job when he'd outgrown the rolePatsy Hollingsworth: A stranger from East Texas whose scholarship fund unexpectedly paid for Ron's education at BaylorTwo Friends From Church: Walked alongside him through his darkest months after his divorce, becoming lifelong friends he could still call todayA Baylor Network Connection: Reached out with a hedge fund job opportunity right as Ron was reeling from the 2008 financial crisis👉 Hear how a preacher's son from small-town Texas built an insurance agency around digital-first solutions, then created a specialty church coverage program that stepped in when a major insurer walked away.🔗 Connect with Ron Wadley:Website: insurancefortexans.comBook: thepromiseofcertainty.com📄 Transcript Available: Nobody Pulls Themselves Up Alone, Ron Wadley Says of Building Insurance for Texans📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom lineWebsite: addbackbenefits.com

🎙️ Prepared to Sell: Greg DeSimone's Journey From Corporate Finance to Exit AdvisoryIn this episode, Greg DeSimone, founder and president of Catapult Advisory Group, shares how a corporate finance career built on compliance work and 80-hour weeks led to a panic disorder diagnosis, an unceremonious firing, and eventually a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm built on honest referrals rather than hard selling. Greg opens up about the staff revolt that reshaped his leadership style, the moment he walked out of a New York office and kept walking, and how he built Catapult from six LinkedIn contacts into a firm serving family businesses nationwide.✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:Spent four years auditing companies at Deloitte before moving into controller rolesCut a monthly close cycle from roughly 25 days to 8 by moving routine work earlier in the monthGenerated over a million dollars in unbudgeted revenue by convincing two large clients to buy out discontinued software licensesSurvived a staff revolt at Domain Home that reshaped how he communicated with his teamMigrated five company acquisitions onto Oracle Financials while at StaplesDeveloped general panic disorder while working 60 to 80 hour weeks at Princeton ReviewWas fired after a subordinate's uncaught error delayed a public filing, and walked away without severance or bonusFounded Catapult Advisory Group in 2008 during the financial crisis through a partnership with Focal Point Business CoachingBuilt his first clients from just six honest, no-pressure conversations with LinkedIn contactsTracks referrals given versus received and has averaged nearly two back for every one given🌟 Greg's Key Mentors:The CEO and CFO of Domain Home: Mentored him early in his career and helped him see the human side of leading a finance teamHis Staff at Domain Home: Their pushback, though painful, taught him how to lead without demotivating peopleDavid Humphrey and Jeff Muir: Mentors at B Connecticut Advisors who helped him jumpstart the transactional side of his advisory workHis Wife: Urged him to walk away from a toxic work environment rather than accept a face-saving compromise👉 Hear how a finance executive who once developed panic disorder from corporate pressure built an exit planning firm rooted in honesty, patience, and helping family businesses transfer well.🔗 Connect with Greg DeSimone:Website: catapultadvisorygroup.com📄 Transcript Available: Building Transferable Businesses:  Greg DeSimone's Client-First Approach to Business Exits📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom lineWebsite: addbackbenefits.com

🎙️ Keeping Independent Shoe Stores Alive: Mark Denkler's Leadership at the National Shoe Retailers AssociationIn this episode, Mark Denkler, president of the National Shoe Retailers Association, shares how he turned down a $50,000 job managing his uncle's shoe stores for a $19,000 banking role at Fuji Bank, rose through corporate finance working on billion-dollar deals, and eventually walked away to run his family's shoe store instead. Mark opens up about being passed over for promotion, misjudging his own uncle's business as a young banker, and the rent increase that ultimately forced him to close the store his grandfather opened in 1952.✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:Turned down a $50,000 job managing his uncle's three shoe stores for a $19,000 banking job at Fuji BankWas blindsided by an annual review revealing fee income, not client satisfaction, was the real measure of his jobWas the only one of four peers not promoted to vice president in his cohortWorked on billion-dollar leveraged buyout deals, including financing $4 billion for a Kroger dividend recapitalizationLeft banking in 1994 to take over Vince Canning's Shoes in Delray Beach, the store his grandfather opened in 1952Bought a second store, Tootsie's, entirely with cash rather than financing it through debtWatched his original store's rent jump from $150,000 to $300,000 a year, forcing a decision to closeUnderestimated the 2008 financial crisis, planning for a 10% sales decline that turned into 40 to 50%Closed his stores in 2019 and 2020 rather than sign a new $1.5 million, five-year leaseNow leads an organization representing roughly 2,800 of the 6,000 remaining independent shoe stores nationwide🌟 Mark's Key Mentors:His Uncle: Ran a successful shoe store business for 45 years, a longevity Mark initially doubted as a young bankerHis Wife, LaOnda: Shared his financially conservative instincts, enabling the couple to buy a second store entirely in cashHis Grandfather: Opened Vince Canning's Shoes in 1952, the store Mark would later run for over two decadesHis City's Local Leaders: Redeveloped downtown Delray Beach in a way that ultimately reshaped the retail environment Mark's stores operated in👉 Hear how a banker who once doubted his own uncle's shoe business ended up running that same store for decades, then built a second career keeping the entire independent shoe industry alive.🔗 Connect with Mark Denkler:Website: nsra.org📄 Transcript Available: Follow the Data: Mark Denkler's Journey From $2 Billion in Banking to Independent Shoe Retail📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom lineWebsite: addbackbenefits.com