Suzilla: Family Business Podcast

We have built a couple of brands, what does optics do for your message? Do you need them? What is the balance between form and function? It pays an important roll in your business and even employment. There are a lot of visually learners so what are they learning about you. Sometimes a little bit of grit is a good thing.

Pride has been big business for years. Is it rainbow washing or is a business working on being inclusive year round? Is it good for business or is it being abandoned? While we are a little insurance agency, we have been having a blast for years supporting inclusive events around Washington state. This is what we have seen this first week of Pride Month 2025

How do you determine that you are being overwhelmed and how do you not overwhelm others. How does love bombing someone work and what is it’s reverse? How do you set boundaries to keep yourself whole and moving forward during challenging times.

Yeah, I heard about a Cheese Rave today. There is a wonderful skill about pairing two separate ideas and having them come together like peanut butter and jelly. We are going to talk about some of our favorite fusions and what it takes to bring things together. It does take work and effort when done correctly.

As Insurance Agents, most of our business is not shared on group chats with a stranger present. We have held confidential information our entire lives. It impacts trust from our associates, the companies that we work with and most important our clients. We get into protocols and secrets and why they are important for everyone.

When folks drive by our little insurance office one of the first things they see is the sign. When they encounter us on the web or social media there are also signs. It’s spring time so we look at are signs. Do they sparkle enough for the new year. Do we need to update. Here are some things that we do to make us stand out and welcoming.

When setting up an office for Wenatchee Insurance. We have done our best to use micro validations to make it welcoming and not boring. We are going to get into methods that keep your space interesting while moving people through and conducting business. Life doesn't happen in a bland space so how do you introduce difference with out being outrageous?

One of those issues that is popular is what do you wear to the office? How important is what you wear to your job? Are you a for show kind of person or a for function kind? How important is it in today’s work environment to own a suit and tie? What about personal protection equipment including sensible shoes? Is it appropriate to berate a guest or employee publicly for their costume?

Tomorrow is one of the big boycott days for the big box stores. As a bonus, a bunch of the organizers are starting to mention using small businesses. I have ran a small insurance business for years. What would have happened if you were using small businesses before? If businesses that you know and respect thrive then does it improve your community? A diverse market is a thriving market so let’s get there.

When was the last time that you tried something new. Personally, a couple or a business? Spring is a great time to get out and discover your community. Set up new processes to improve your business and prepare for Summer. We have been trying new things with great success. Let’s get into the importance of new.

Every day, every week, every month we vote with our wallets the businesses that we support. At a certain point, those businesses and business owners support politics. Like it or not yes money is attached to politics. One of the top questions that I was asked last week on one of the platforms is there any lists of businesses that don’t support MAGA. Yes, people are waking up that their wallets can make a difference. Let’s talk about the secret life of politics of business.

We have been running an inclusive insurance business so long, we just shrug when people say it's bad practice. Say the words Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It’s an action which leads to thought and conversation. What do you object to it and why is Target shareholders suing the company for dropping their DEI program? What do we look for in business as we hire. Lets fill in the gaps and build a better future.

Who was surprised by the Federal Freeze? It was a quick flash that highlighted more than I expected as a small business owner. Funding is critically important. It’s why our Founding Fathers selected Congress for that power. The Spending Clause is Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1. We have seen it before, have conversations about it, and inventory our resources. Now is the time to prepare.

If you ever been to our office, you will see that we don't use the traditional uniform of an Insurance Agency. It can make a lot of people uncomfortable so we put in markers that were friendlier to more people. Uniform is important as it is a visual marker to identify if something is a friend or foe. A green flag or a red flag. You might have to wear something for a job or to fit in. Uniqueness is the personal touch the pledge pin. It is how you hold a conversation and the thoughts behind it. We are talking about the big U’s today on Suzilla.

We are seeing time and time again people getting burned because they are running an expectation that it is business as usual. It is strange because it is an attempt to defy the one universal constant that is change. We have had to work with it firsthand this year as we had a local Medicare Advantage plan leave our area with thousands of clients. Some quickly found assistance, some did it themselves and some are still finding out months later that their Medicare plan left. We saw it with Covid and the businesses that failed to adapt quick enough. We saw it when the real estate market collapsed. We saw it when the savings and loan's collapsed. Today's Suzilla, we talk about ending the Set it and Forget it lifestyle.

Have you ever wondered why you hated the person who talked poorly to the receptionist? Had your car in the repair shop and got a upcharge of a couple of hundred dollars. Watched someone cut in line. Didn't use someone's correct Pronouns,. It is all about consent. Suzie and Matt have been running their business on consent for years and it creates referrals like no other.

There are people that treat insurance and other services as a transactional model. Pull a lever and coverage comes out. Suzie and I have always treated it as a wild river process. Where clients move from pool to pool, lingering where they need more and moving quickly to the next process when needed. Today, we are looking at flow and how quickly things can jam up if we were just focused on a single transaction.

After seeing that Fyre 2 is being worked on, Bridgerton Ball, the Wonka experience. It is time to talk about events. We love events from working on theatre to hosting festivals. We are getting into constructing an event to what to look for to avoid being scammed. Events are not a cash cow banking experience and we need to stop treating them as such.

Do you have a long term mindset or short term mindset. We work with Insurance which involves long term planning. There are little steps that you can do that a little bit of planning smooths out problems before they occur. This week we get into little steps that we have done over the year that have allowed us to do better this year despite financial disaster.

How do you stay in business for years in the insurance industry that is ripe with change? We are going to talk about the myth of the old reliable. As businesses, we hear managers use the phrase find out what works and do that. Well what happens when it get’s old? I read another story of a church that has been around for years closing it’s doors same issue. The reliance on the old reliable does not promote growth and relevance. So how do you do it. We are going talk about how we continue to refresh and prevent from getting stale.