In this month's episode, we will meet Nate Lauer, who is a State Farm franchise owner. Nate is married to Jill and they have two young daughters. Nate and Jill both own and operate their own businesses and Nate shares about the challenges of juggling this while raising a family.
Listen in and see how Nate's early career path took him through a wide variety of roles until one phone call led to him becoming a business owner. We also discuss how post-secondary education is sometimes overemphasized and why hard work and a hunger to learn, are both critical factors to success.
Nate believes that leadership starts with serving others as Christ came to serve and he strives to be a servant to his employees and his customers.
Be sure to rate and follow our podcast!
In this month's episode, we will meet Nate Lauer, who is a State Farm franchise owner. Nate is married to Jill and they have two young daughters. Nate and Jill both own and operate their own businesses and Nate shares about the challenges of juggling this while raising a family.
Listen in and see how Nate's early career path took him through a wide variety of roles until one phone call led to him becoming a business owner. We also discuss how post-secondary education is sometimes overemphasized and why hard work and a hunger to learn, are both critical factors to success.
Nate believes that leadership starts with serving others as Christ came to serve and he strives to be a servant to his employees and his customers.
Be sure to rate and follow our podcast!
Um, this month's episode, we will meet Nate Lauer. He has a small business owner, husband of 15 years and dad to two girls. Nate and his wife, Jill, both own and operate small businesses. Nate is passionate about bringing his faith to all aspects of his life, including his business. Listen in as Nate explains how one phone call dramatically changed the course of his career.
Nate:he's making more in retirement than I am probably in five years. And so I just called him up and just asked him if I could take them out for a cup of coffee.
Jason:Nate has a very practical view of how leaders ought to demonstrate the kind of service and humility that Christ did.
Nate:I take out the trash by lunch several times a week Fill their coffee mugs in the morning forum, cook them breakfast, wash windows, vacuum, et cetera.
Jason:nate shares how he and his team. Pray for and with each other, as well as for customers who are experiencing hardships.
Nate:We pray for our customers. We pray when people come in and they're just kind of down in luck you know, those types of things we pray for when people you know, lose a loved one,
Jason:And Nate and I also discussed the importance and sometimes overemphasis on formal education and the value of practical experience.
Nate:I've got a PhD which is a plain old high school diploma.
Jason:And we talked at length about finding and keeping great people on our teams.
Nate:and my philosophy is too is I don't want a revolving door for my staff
Jason:I hope you enjoy learning about how God has brought Nate through a variety of career directions when he was younger to now having an established business. Where he is able to support his family and honor God in the process. All right. Well, welcome back to the podcast. I have my friend and brother with me today, Nate Lauer. So Nate, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for joining.
Nate:Perfect. Thanks for having me, Jason.
Jason:Yeah. So go ahead and let's talk a little bit about your career history. Tell people kind of what you're doing now, where you started off at, and we'll talk about your family and then your faith in Christ after that.
Nate:So what I'm doing now is I'm actually a small business owner. I have a state farm agency down in Angola, Indiana, and we're actually licensed in both Indiana and Michigan. So that's kind of got its own challenges if you could imagine. So that's what I'm doing currently. And I currently manage two full-time staffers currently hiring right now in our current economic environment. Right. I mean, that's kinda
Jason:Yeah, everybody's looking for help.
Nate:Yeah, exactly. So, and it's kind of hard to find good help as well. So started that back on that path back in 2015 and worked for a couple of years underneath an agent and then started my own agency in 2017, January of 2017 and loving every minute of. So going back from kind of my, my, work history and so an education and all that kind of stuff. It was your friend Scott, right? Is that his name?
Jason:Yeah.
Nate:Okay,
Jason:Scott King that we interviewed.
Nate:sky king. Yap. So I've got one up on him. I've got a PhD which is a plain old high school diploma.
Jason:There you go.
Nate:And so then a little bit, some community college, in that you know, soar, but decided that I actually wanted to just kinda, you know, ramp up and get into the, to the workforce and start making some money. And so started at 16, worked anywhere from fast food to production, to sales, to gosh, changing oil and cars to you name it. Education banking started my first leadership role back when I was. 19 18, 19, something like that, working at a pizza place, A shift leader, managing some people, and then started back up When I was in banking Did that for a couple of years and was an office manager and yeah, so that's kind of my work history. I kinda think I had to spend some time going back to kind of count all the different jobs or positions that I have. And I think I, I have at least 17 that I can remember. So definitely not the steady Eddie, if you will.
Jason:One of the things that I've, I think. We forget sometimes is that young people it takes them some time to figure out some, some people, some young people know I have my oldest son he's been working on cars since he's been, you know, knee-high to a grasshopper as the old saying goes, and that's what he does. That's what he loves. But for some of us and I'm included, I was similar to you. I got out of high school and went to work. I knew I was. not ready for college at that point And wanted to go, just get a job. And it took me a while to figure out, you know, what I, wanted to do. I want to talk just a little bit more about where you're at now. Cause you're, you're a small business owner, which is really super cool. And a lot of people aspire to do that. Did you start off in the insurance industry? Did you say working for an agent and working in an office
Nate:I did. Yeah. So I kind of knew that I wanted to be the owner of the business. And I kind of have kind of a God thing, but I was working in mortgages and a gentleman that I had worked on a couple homes for them. Right. One out here, one out in Washington that he bought. And then another one back here for his wife for a condo. And so, gosh, I looked at what his income was right as a retired state farm. Corporate leader. And I was like, man, something's something's wrong. Like he's making more in retirement than I am probably in five years. And so I just called him up and just asked him if I could take them out for a cup of coffee. And he actually connected me with the gentlemen that I worked for for just shy of two years, 18 months, right? around that timeframe and went into what they call agent aspirant program. And so basically what it is, it's a grooming program to become an agent. And So you know, it really helped because I was on somebody else's dime for 18 months and kind of learned
Jason:So I think it says a lot about that phone call you made right. to reach out to somebody that really a mentor that you saw had done some things that you wanted to do. And just taking that, taking that time to say, Hey, help me, help me understand what I could do. I don't know, as if I could talk to a leader who couldn't refer back to somebody who really helped them out, like that. That's pretty cool story that you took the initiative and unbeknownst to him that you were even thinking that. And as you said that's a God thing, right? His hand is at work and in all those situations, and you said you've had the agency since 2017, so five years now.
Nate:Yup. Yup. Yup. It's a time flies when you have.
Jason:That's super cool. So I guess a word of advice and encouragement to those that want to be small business owners is there's ways to make it happen. You know, if you, if you follow that dream and, you know, build the right relationships and that, that certainly can be a dream that can be realized. So tell us about your family.
Nate:So my wife, Jill, we've been married this year in June for 15 years. she's from battle Creek. I'm originally from Ohio moved up here. We've met while she was in college and I was working and I was telling people she stalked me, but that's not the case. I actually stalked her a little bit and got the courage to ask her. One of the best decisions I ever made. And so she is a business owner as well in battle Creek. And she actually started the same, same year that I started my agency. So here I am You know, fresh off the the press of you know, being a business owner, not making any money and kind of relying on her income. And then she decided to say, Hey, guess what? I'm gonna start my own business too, and not make any money. So I'm like, oh, great. Well, let's, let's see how this works. Right. Perfect timing. Perfect timing. It was only God's God's plan though, which is, which is fantastic as fast forward five years. And you know wish we would've done a lot earlier. and, so we have two daughters, Riley and Elena, and they are 12 and, 10 going on 21 and 18. And They are. Currently involved with basketball and volleyball and all that kind of stuff. So they are definitely involved with a lot of different areas of extracurricular activities and those types of things. So
Jason:Yeah, that can get really busy for a family. When you've got a couple of couple of kids that are in a lot of sports and and run into businesses.
Nate:Yes, absolutely. Well, thankfully I've got, you know, boys, my wife is just herself, right. Her own entity. So it works out great. You know, when, when she's busy on able to kind of pick up the slack and vice versa. So,
Jason:So tell us a little bit about your face. Nate, when, did you come to know the Lord? How did how did that all.
Nate:so always grew up in a household that at least my mom went to. So a few years back, I actually got the courage to talk to my dad about his faith and all that kind of stuff, just because, you know, I never see saw him go to church with us, but that was a, great conversation. And So I always grew up in the church, but never really Made the full commitment, the full plunge. So in my early twenties, I actually accepted Jesus Christ into my heart. It was actually at a leadership conference and they had a Sunday morning non-denominational, kind of come if you want, don't come if you want, you know, kind of thing, decided to go. And, and everything I heard made sense and I knew that I needed to change what I was doing.
Jason:So you, you grew up. Mom was in church. Did you grow up? Going to church?
Nate:I did. Yeah. And it was one of those things that, I was either in Sunday school or I was in the pew, just, you know, bored, you know, as, as most kids are. but I'm thankful for, for that time, because something resonated when I was younger, you know what I mean? To open my heart and my mind when when somebody told me the truth. So
Jason:Yeah. You had that seed planted from a, from a childhood. So you guys you guys involved in church now you serve in your church?
Nate:we do. Yeah. So we, we attend a victory life church here in battle Creek where we live. And so we are involved with their greeting ministry. We're fairly new to the church probably within the past year or so. And yeah, so I'm sure those, those responsibilities will change the longer that we're there.
Jason:Well, That's an important one the people that, are going to show up every week and be able to make people feel comfortable and walk them when they get there. That's a pretty large church too. So it can be intimidating if you're brand new. Anytime I invite someone to church always tell them Text me or call me when you get there so that I can be at the door and make sure Hey, you know, make you feel welcome because that is super intimidating for any family who's ever went, walked in the door of a new church That's probably one of the most intimidating, scary times that you can experience. So to try to make that, make that a little smoother and a little more comfortable is, is huge.
Nate:Yeah, And our girls help out with that as well, too, which they love it. And, you know, from our pastors that we were there for about 15 years, we were also part of their, their greeting ministry. And then also I work security as well, too. So
Jason:Yeah. So you said you were at a leadership conference when, you accepted the Lord, they had a, kind of a chapel service sounds like Sunday, Sunday morning. What kind of a leadership conference was that?
Nate:So we used to be a part of a multi-level marketing business. And so, you know, it was something we did and we learned a lot of great leadership principles. And so you know, it was a huge for our growth, our spiritual growth, and for just you know got us turned on to a lot of leadership principles, a lot of leadership books.
Jason:Yeah, it's all about relationships and those things and influencing others. I grew up in a home where my dad and step-mom both ran a business and prior to them opening brick and mortar businesses They had worked for years in multi-level marketing. In fact, I want to say, I think that's how they met. Remember Amway right back in the day, the Amway was huge. And my dad, I believe did that. And I think that's how he met my step-mom if I am correctly recalling that.
Nate:Yeah. Yeah. That was the the organization we were part of. Yep.
Jason:Been around a long time. And I can remember having those meetings in our house when I was a, just a little guy and yeah. So as you've grown as a leader What, what is a core principle that you've kind of boiled it down to a motto that, you think about. And how would that how does that tie back to scripture when you think about that?
Nate:I would say there's a couple that I wouldn't say are really leadership principles, but things that I have mottos in my office, and then I'll kind of go over some of the leadership. So in my office, I'm very up front with people, right. Letting them know, Hey, I'm a business owner. I'm also a Christian man. So that makes me a Christian business owner. Right. So if that offends you, you know what I mean, then probably not the right opportunity for you. Right. I can forgive a head issue, but not a heart issue. So what that means is if it's something that is based off of training or something that we haven't talked about, or you just didn't know, not a big deal. Right. But if you're out there and you're deliberately doing things for your own gain or whatever, Or you're just telling people wrong information in our industry, I can't forgive that.
Jason:Yeah. I mean, something like that really to be, to kill the business right. And integrity. And the business is huge,
Nate:absolutely. You know? I grew up with your word is your word. And do unto others as you would want done to yourself. and we have a motto in our office of we're going to treat you like family. So if we're going to say that we have to back it up as well, too. So I'm a very trustworthy person and that's sometimes to a fault. also I'm a very open book with my, with my staff, right? There's no secrets, you know, those types of things. But the big leadership principle that I can tie to kind of a biblical principle is I serve those that work for me. So what I mean by that, and I'm getting better every single day about this, but I kind of think about how Jesus was the ultimate example of serving, It takes huge humility in a one to serve by washing people's feet like Jesus did to those that he trained in the lab. Right. I take out the trash by lunch several times a week Fill their coffee mugs in the morning forum, cook them breakfast, wash windows, vacuum, et cetera. The one thing that I still haven't come to Really love is washing dishes, unfortunately. So that's the one thing that staff can kinda kind of do in the office. But you know, Jesus showed love humility in service, but also I think, especially in today's age, you hear a lot of people talk about appreciation. Hey, I appreciate you. I think he showed appreciation by Zack's as well
Jason:Thinking through coming over and filling somebody's coffee cup, you. know, as well as the other things you talked about, especially as being the owner of the business, I think uh, yeah, that's huge. And that showing that kind of humility and, you. know, putting them first thinking about them that is good. So you see, you're pretty open when you, when you bring people on you're, you're able to be pretty open about your faith, obviously you own the business, have you been able to have conversations with others about their faith? Like how does that, how does that interaction go in the office? I know for me, I, you know, I'm pretty open as well as. As it comes about, people know I'm a Christian, I talk about, my service in church and things like that But obviously, those of us who are not a business owner, we're being paid to, do a job by our employer. So our primary responsibility is not, and you know, sharing the gospel that's coming in and running the business or doing whatever we're paid to do. but I'm just curious how that, how that interaction has worked out for you and you have a pretty small office environment. So I'm sure relationships are pretty close.
Nate:Yeah. So the crazy thing is, is I, I, I relate to what you just said because I've been in. Work environments where I was not the owner. And if you even shared your face, you were getting called into somebody's office about, Hey, we're here to do a job, not to share your Christianity. So, little bit different. Right. So anybody that really wants to share their faith during their, their working hours definitely encourage that you become a business owner or you find, you know, a company that will allow you to do that because I'd never had that, unfortunately, a corporate America and past career choices. So, yeah. So it's awesome because I can talk to my staff. We pray, We pray for our customers. We pray when people come in and they're just kind of down in luck you know, those types of things we pray for when people you know, lose a loved one,
Jason:As I think through that and they're in your industry, You have to be interacting with people that when they're having a I mean, their house has burned down. They've lost a loved one. There's some pretty catastrophic events that are happening to your customers at time. I suppose. yeah. You're able to interact with them. That's pretty that's pretty cool to think that you can, you have that opportunity to do that with not a year employees, but your, your customers too. Yeah. So, Nate, what are your spiritual disciplines? How do you maintain your close relationship with the Lord Day to day, week to week? What are those things. that you really try to address?
Nate:I kinda think too, when it talks about, you know, mind, body, soul, So, you know, several times a week, probably four or five times a week, In the gym. And that's another place that I can share my faith. And so I think, you know, when Jesus talks about your body being a temple, So if I'm putting in good things and I'm, you know, working out, doing those types of things, I'm showing gratitude I'm I'm trying to please God, But the other thing too is, you know, daily reading in the Bible started read the Bible in a year plan. I think I had heard Scott talk about that and I've started it before and kinda got through and, you know maybe halfway through three quarters of the way through or whatever, but I'm like, okay, darn it. I'm just going to go ahead and finish it this time.
Jason:I will say that I have completed one of those one time through the whole year and stuck with it. And boy, if you get behind, it can really be difficult and discouraging to catch up, but it is good to go through from Genesis one, one all the way to the end of revelation. At least one time.
Nate:Nightly Bible reading with the family and for your time with them as well too. So we get on Bible gateway each night and then we kind of read the verse of the day. And then we, we pray. Praise and worship. So, because I my office is all the way down in Angola. it's about an hour drive, so there's a lot of praise and worship time that I get get in the car Weekly church, men's leadership, breakfasts. It's also a huge part of our family, our daughters serving In our second service watching the little kids. So it's not just what we do. It's what we in, kind of imparted on our, on our kids as well, too. Right.
Jason:Yeah. It makes sure that children know, that the serving in the church is something that all believers should, should do as soon as they're. Yeah. As soon as
Nate:Yep,
Jason:to do that.
Nate:yep. Pass onto the next generation. Absolutely. So girls go to impact student ministry at victory life. Church camps any opportunity that we have to Be around other believers, right? W we look for those opportunities as well.
Jason:You talked about doing devotionals each day with your daughters? I think it's super important. I have three children. Two of them are grown one still at home. He's he's 16, but I remember when they were younger, I always wanted to do that. Well, I can't say I ever did it well, but there was times that we did and stuck with that discipline. I think that's so important, not only for our own spiritual development, because kids are going to ask some super difficult questions and it'll push us to dig a little harder and to scripture. But then just discipling our own children. How old did you say your daughters were again?
Nate:12 and 10.
Jason:Oh yeah. So that's a really great age to, to open up scripture with them each day and, and read through that. And I'm sure there's some interesting questions that come from that. And a lot of times I think as parents, you look at it and go, man, they seem disengaged and I have to make them come and do this and are they really getting it? But in my experience, they are getting it and they're learning from it. And even though it, sometimes it doesn't seem like it, but I don't know what that experience has been like that for you guys, with your daughters
Nate:Well, it's, it's, it's challenging each week, right? Because there's times where they just don't want to watch the kids that week. Right. And we said, Hey, if you've made a commitment, you know, we must follow through. Right. And so it's something that I wish I would've had when I was younger. Right. I mean, like I said, I grew up in the church, but was never really taught or pushed into, you know, doing things with the church.
Jason:And just actually serving in the church.
Nate:exactly. Exactly. Yep. Yep.
Jason:Yeah. Last I think it was last Wednesday night service. We, we met, we made it as a church on Wednesday evenings and pray and do a do a study, but one of the One of our men talked about needing some more people to sign up for lawn mowing the summer. And I was like, oh, that'd be perfect for, for my 16 year old to get plugged into and serve in that way. So yeah. That's cause he's, you know, he kind of at that age where I'm like, okay, you need to, you know, it's time to start actually serving in the church, not just going and being fed and fed and fed. How do you give back some? So, yeah, So, I'm going to be working on him, encouraging him this summer to be a part of the lawn mowing team and all that it's, it all matters. Nate before we go onto our next. Question. I have a question for the audience. Do you have a tool that helps you stay focused on doing. Doing what really matters. I'm being the leader. God has called you to be. It's very easy. Easy for us to become task focused and to work on getting things done. But how do we also stay focused on becoming. The kind of leader that honors. Christ in our work. A few years ago i started using the monk manual which is a planning and prioritization system That does more. more than just help you get things done It helps you stay focused on becoming an effective leader as well I encourage you to check out their website@monkmanual.com. So Nate. As you think back to your time earlier in your time as a leader what are some of the things that you struggled with in leading people and, you know, do you still struggle with those? How did you overcome those? Talk to us about some of the challenges that you had.
Nate:So I would definitely say maturity issues, just basically being at a young age. I thought I had to prove myself because I was typically younger than the people that I was leading Patients focusing on the things that were going to matter in the long-term not the short-term. I think that's, that's huge because you can be so busy just putting out the fires. Right. And at the end of the day in the next 2, 3, 4, or five years, those things really don't matter. Right. So just focusing on those and then, you know, making those such a big deal, casting the vision of our plan and our mission, I think was probably pretty difficult for me. I don't think I really did a very good job early. Especially in my first kind of leadership roles, if you will. I think what, what my challenge is still today are still lacking patience in unsatisfied with our results. So sometimes I feel like I can look to somebody else in our organization and say, man, that person, you know, they're, they're the top in the state. They're the top five in the state, right? Well, we did really well. Last year we were in the top 10 of, of all the agents in the state of state farm, top 10 to 15%. And that's 19, almost 20,000 agents. Right. So kind of taking a step back and saying, okay, yeah, we could have done more, but let's be grateful where we're at as well too.
Jason:I have experienced it as a leader. You always are looking at how to, how to get better, how to do better, whatever that, however, that's measured growth efficiency, and it's so important for us to yes. Push on that and challenge ourselves and our teams towards that continuous improvement mindset. But to also be the one to point at the successes and, you know, show the team that yeah. You recognize that there has been growth. There's been successes there's been wins. I would also say that earlier in my career it was constant focus on what's next and how do we do better and almost a completely ignore, You know, improvements that have been made. And that can be super demoralizing for, for team members.
Nate:absolutely. Well, and, and my philosophy philosophy is too is I don't want a revolving door for my staff too. Right. So, you know, I've got one, one gal that's been with me for almost a year. I've got my office manager. That's been with me for more than five years. And just that. piece of appreciation. I took her down to Indianapolis with my wife and one of her friends. And we did a, a weekend down there paid for paid for a nice meal. And those types of things Just had a gentleman of mine that worked for me for almost two years. He starting his own state farm agency. And so I think I've been very fortunate and very blessed. And like I said, try to show the appreciation and try to serve where they want to come in on a daily basis. Right. And I've heard this, I don't remember where I heard it, but people don't normally quit quit jobs. They bosses. They quit meters.
Jason:Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty common saying I don't know where it came from, but I believe it's true as well. You know, it's a lot of that relationship you have with the people that work for you. I would say that's a huge, huge factor in whether they stay or whether they don't stay, especially in this market. Right. You mentioned it earlier, just trying to find and keep good people is a battle that. all businesses are facing. No matter What, you do have healthcare manufacturing, retail, insurance, it's, everyone's, everyone's fighting that. I'm going to go back a little bit to talk about keeping that long-term vision in mind. I'm interested in learning more about how do you and your team develop that growth strategy? What are some of the things you do there? How do you keep it in front of them? How do they participate in that? I'm interested in how a business like yours does it, And How do you know what's your, what are the tools that you use to drive growth over the long-term.
Nate:So, like I mentioned before, it's, it's one of those things where I've always been an open book, right. If you're doing well in the office, I'm going to praise you. If you're not, you're going to know real quick, you're on the chopping block. Right. So I think people appreciate that. I've been in leadership positions where, you know, it's, it's a very hard conversation to have, but I think they appreciate when you say, Hey, look, this is what's happened and your job's in jeopardy, So we're at a crossroad here of, do you correct. And, you know, get better at your, at your current position or is it something that maybe it's just more beneficial for you to just kind of find a different career path, Right, And so, but I'll help you, I'll help you, you know, I'll give you a good recommendation, those types of things, unless you're, I mean, just deliberately doing bad things in the office. right. But, so, so, when they come in and I've, I've kind of gotten away from this, but when I first started, I had a little light sheet that I had or somebody when they're coming to my office and it would be. Their favorite drink, their favorite snack, their favorite candy. And then what I would do is when they would come in, I'd have a little goody bag, a little gift bag for them. Right. Here's all your favorite things. And then they come in And they're, oh my gosh. Wow. Nobody's ever done that for me. You know, this and that, but it's it's one of those things. I'm huge on communication. So, you know, when you're, when you come to our office, you have to get licenses, right. State licenses. And so, okay. Are you communicating with me while you're doing the licensing, those types of things, you know, I'm going to know, very early on, are they the type of person that's going to have good communication or not? So, but when they come in, we've got a training program from another state farm agent that I really bought into early on and it's helped our agency, you know, I I've always been a firm believer of don't reinvent the wheel. Right. If somebody is already doing something really good, then just kind of. Right. All we place in, in in our society, in business where you can copy people not get in trouble. You go, you go to school and you copy somebody you get in trouble, but in business, Somebody else has already walked through the minefield field. So I'd rather them get a late law blown off. And me, when you say an extremity, right? So,
Jason:In manufacturing, we do what we call benchmarking best practices. Right? So if I get to go to a, a factory, that's not a competitor to see what they're doing To learn. And a guy that really helped me understand how important that was. He said, he said in our industry and operations, you know, what R and D stands for. And I'm like, no, what he says, rip off and duplicate,
Nate:yeah.
Jason:you know, and not You know, maliciously. These are, you know, many people I've worked with over the years have said, Hey, take, you know, take what we're doing and take it and learn from it again. They're not competitors. They're just people. Within that operations area And are proud of, you know, some things they've developed. So there's a lot to be said for, like you said, not try and reinvent the wheel.
Nate:yeah. And so with, with my staff, they know that I'm not in competition. right. So in our industry, we make income based off of, you know, somebody switching to our agency. Right. So I I'm not in competition with them. So when let's say a family member or somebody calls up, I'm, I'm taking the information and I'm giving it to one of my staff members to, to run with it. Because that puts food on their table. So You know, just, just those things, like I said, it's, it's, it's showing respect, it's showing trust. It's showing you know if, if you, have something that, you know, like an open door policy, so if you if you really need to talk to me about something, Or you have something that you have no idea how to take care of it, We're, we're going to sit down with you and we're going to help you figure it out. Or, Hey, if everybody's obviously busy, this is the steps that You, need to take to figure it out. And, then when you figure it out, come back and tell me, so I'm a firm believer of, if you ask me a question you know, how do I handle this situation? I'm a firm believer of you need to bring at least what are your ideas And what are your thoughts to me versus me just telling you everything
Jason:just don't bring me the problem.
Nate:exactly. How would you handle it? But yeah, you know, we, we, we focus on here's our growth that we're, we're looking at for this year. And then, you know, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? So we look at that. on what are our daily what are our daily goals? What are our daily tasks that we have to get done? Right. So if we want to grow by 400 cars and 400 homes that we know, that we need to quote this many people every single day, We need to be looking out for our customers. So giving an example, I had a gentleman the other day who, he's got his home, he's got his auto insurance with us and I see on Facebook, he's got some ATVs and I'm like, Hey man, cool, cool new toy. Right. And he's like, oh, thanks man. And I, I said, you know are those yours or whatever? And he's like, yeah. And so I just faxed them and I was just like, Hey do you need to get some insurance on that or whatever? He's like, oh, I already got insurance on it. I was like, oh, yeah Um, can we look at we're competitive? I mean, he's got everything else with us, right, And he's like, yeah, sure. You know, he's probably at the dealership and the dealership's like, well, you need insurance. Okay. Well, how do I get that? Right. And so, you know, you have to turn every stone over. You can't leave a stone unturned in our industry. You know, just just helping the staff kind of understand those types of things. Right. And, you know, it's, it's a, it's a salary plus commission you know, jobs. So the more people they help, the more, the more they help their family, So, and like I said, we take that approach. It's not, let's go get us one. Right. It's how can we help people?
Jason:And I know you, I know how high of an integrity guy you are and how you care about people and really taken approach to it's a business, right? You, you're trying to earn a living for your family. And, and so yes, that's important. But while you do that, you can be truly helping people. And that's an opportunity. I'm sure, as I said earlier, you face at times when people have a pretty catastrophic event to, you know, to be able to do that. And it has to make you feel. Yeah, it has to be pretty rewarding that you know, that you've been able to help somebody in a really difficult time and take care of them in that way and not just be another number. I'm just some you know, some person in a call center, you're just some guy who just wrecked his car, but you know, to actually be able to know that person and know that you're, you're helping them and helping them through a really difficult time.
Nate:no You're absolutely right. And we take great pride in the fact that we've got over a hundred people that have given us five star reviews on Google. And, you know, services are number one priority. So when somebody walks in, I tell our staff, I don't care if you're on the phone. If you're working with four people, you know, we're acknowledging them. As soon as they walk through the door, if somebody calls, we're picking it up by the third ring. And if we can't pick it up, guess what? Even if they leave us a message or they don't leave us a message, we're calling them back and saying, Hey, so sorry, we missed your phone call. people have many, many, many choices in our industry to go other places. So we need to make sure that we do everything that we can do to keep them happy, you know, and keep them, keep them in our state farm family.
Jason:Yeah, I think that trust and service are so huge. And I think that people will be willing to pay a little more, to them. It has some level of premium. If you think about, especially in your industry, where there are a lot of choices, but I would say of many of those choices are huge organizations where you don't, there's no relationship. You're calling some call center and you don't know that person, you know, to to be able to say, now I know, I know my agent and if something a, I know that they're going to get back with me quickly. I'm just normal routine stuff. But B then that tells me if something catastrophic happens. Like I know the human beings they're going to come and help me out. Like I know who they are and I trust them that trust is a huge piece. my oldest son owns his own business. Him and his wife started a garage and he's had that dream for, since he's been a teenager and one of the free pieces of dad advice, you know, I always offer free advice to my kids, whether they want it unsolicited a lot of times. But I told him when he was younger. I said, if you can, I think if you can do two things as a, as an auto repair shop, if you can, first of all, make it hyper convenient, make it as super convenient as you can for your customer. And number two, build that trust and never ever rip somebody off. I said, you'll probably have more business than you even know what to do with. and they do that. And the same thing, they've had a lot of great reviews. They've got some really great, you know Rick customers that they've built those relationships with. I just think our pursuit of efficiency as businesses and, you know, and I'm, I'm an operations person. We're always chasing efficiency that sometimes we lose sight of how important service services and being there for the customer and yeah. Being able to take care of them quickly and building that relationship goes a really, really long ways.
Nate:Yeah, And that that's the data that we've collected to where, you know, trust making it. easy for people. And then Bryce, you know what I mean? But like you said, sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side. So, you know, it's price is important. So as service, right. If you're saving$10 a month,$15 a month and you're getting crappy service.
Jason:Right.
Nate:Yeah.
Jason:Yeah, not worth it. Hey, the other thing you talked about earlier that I think is unique about your business, and I wanted to dig into a little bit more, so you have an insurance agency and you're in Indiana and you service Michigan. And I knew that before our interview today, tell me a little bit about some of the technical difficulties of that. The you and your team have to be licensed in both states? Do you have to carry kind of duplicate licenses? Like what are some of the challenges of that?
Nate:Yeah. correct. We do have to have licenses in Indiana and Michigan now because I came from Michigan for, you know, almost two years, very comfortable, very knowledgeable when it comes to, you know, the ins and outs of somebody's. Indiana was the challenging part because when I hired my office manager, she had almost 20 years of experience and insurance, but all in Michigan. So there's challenges in Indiana that we don't have in Michigan. So like in Indiana, somebody could actually be ineligible with, with our insurance company because their credit is so bad. They don't have any speeding. Tickets don't have any accidents, but their credit is so poor that we will not accept them in Michigan. Really, as long as you, you don't have so many points in the state of Michigan, we can still insure you, or you don't have like a major conviction, like DUI or those types of things. right, But it you know, you got to keep up with both sets of changes, law changes, like what just happened in Michigan, right. The whole PIP
Jason:Yup. Yup.
Nate:and all that kind of stuff, your personal injury protection. And then, you know, Indiana has been pretty consistent. You know, Michigan, we've got no fault in Indiana. It is not no fault. So just knowing how to handle a claim situation in both states. And then also if let's say a Michigan no-fault driver's down in Indiana and they get into an accident with one of our drivers in Indiana. Well, most people think that's, you know, the no fault kicks in. Well, no, that's, that's not correct. it's, whatever state you're in. And so the Indiana laws apply. And so, you know, teaching our customers that because we review our policies with our customers every two years, just for, you know, the trust we wanted to make sure that we're, we're not that agency that, you know, you, you hear from when you switch your, your coverages and then you never hear from them for the next 10 years. Right. So we're always educating our customers as well when we're reviewing those types of things, because you know, all it takes is for one person to. Getting an accident with a Michigan driver and then drive off and say, oh, well, that person told me it was no fault. So this is how we take care of it. And now my insurance is not getting their vehicle fixed, you know? So we're all about that as well, too. You know, the education piece because, you know, if I went with work with you for one day, right. I wouldn't understand everything that you, you know, all that knowledge that you have. So that's why we try to pass that knowledge on to our customers in a one hour meeting every single couple of years. And then, you know, they realize that man, if, if something happens, like you said earlier, the trust I've got that local presence of, Hey, I can, I can just get in touch with Nate or his staff and they'll take care of me
Jason:right. right. Done. I think that it's insurance is a super complex and it I'd say even increasingly more, right. It's regulated. It's different by state there's different laws. So yeah. To have somebody again that you trust that, you know, they're the expert in this, And they're going to make sure that I have. I am covered appropriately and not excessively, but also, you know, that there's no blind spots and they've educated me to that. I liked that idea of every couple of years having that proactive conversation like you and I've been, I was with a insurance agency for over 20 years, my wife and I were. And and we knew them, you know, they were all Locally ran, operated Egypt, but and we always knew we could get ahold of them and get good response, but you go years and years and not, and not talk to them. So yeah, that can let that relationship kind of go cold if you will. So Nate, little different topic when you look around Leadership in general. So whether it's people that you rub elbows with whether it you know, the faith community, the business community Maybe the world at large, what do you think today is the biggest gap in leadership right now?
Nate:Well, there's, there's quite a few, to be honest with you. So one of the things that I've also started just to back up that I forgot to mention earlier on the daily disciplines is started back up on a John Maxwell leadership podcast. And so I don't know if they come out once, once or twice a week or whatever the case may be, but something that he said just a week ago kind of, kind of struck home with me. He had a, a young man that basically had no leadership training and had nobody to lead. So he asked John Maxwell, he said, okay. So if I don't have anybody to lead who to, how do I, how do I lead people? And he said, well, start by leading yourself. So if you don't have anybody that you in your position you know, lead yourself first, right. So are you going to be the type of person that people want you to lead them? Okay. So that's, that's my, my take on people that don't have any leadership roles, right? The other one's kinda kind of tongue and cheek, but you know, meetings, right. I think we have way too many meetings and nothing gets done. And the focus on a degree as well, too. So, you know, from my background, I have no education, Other than my high school diploma and maybe a year of community college. And there have been times where I was so mad walking out of there because I knew out of an interview because I knew I had more than the person that the other people that were interviewed, But because they had the degree, they put more emphasis onto the, the degree than they did, you know, my ability to lead in my past leadership experiences. so, and don't get me wrong. Obviously education is important, right? Mean, there's a lot of reasons why people get out of college, they have the degree and then they can't even get the job because they don't have the experience as well,
Jason:Right. That's true. You know what? I just want to talk about that for a minute, cause I totally agree. And I'm now I'm someone who has been blessed in that. I enjoyed my college education after I was an adult, as I said earlier, I got out of high school and I was the last person who was ready for college. I hated high school. I barely passed. I had a lot of people around me that really pushed me to pass, or I wouldn't even have a high school education fast forward, several years matured and got hungry to learn some things did an apprenticeship, which was really exciting. I was the first education I ever had that I liked. So I'm like, I'm actually learning about something I care about. And long-term, I had a desire to pursue some further education and had organizations I worked for that paid for it. The best engineering leaders that I have ever had worked for me as that have a high school or doesn't have a college education. He's not a degreed engineer. He, he grew up in manufacturing and operations. The guy has a mechanical aptitude. That's off the charts. He's, he's wired to just fix and tinker, you know, he's one of those guys that, what do you do at home? I restore cars. I'm working on stuff at home all the time. You know, he's a problem solver. He's a people developer and no formal education, but he, he runs circles around. Engineers I've ever had you know, engineering leaders and, and on the, on the opposite side of the spectrum, I had somebody who was on my team one time who had a master's, who was working on his PhD, had been a Navy seal. I mean, this is a person who was, you know, pretty amazing pedigree and fired him because he was a terrible leader. and ultimately he was let go because he lied so that education can be important and helpful, but it's not the factor. And I remember as my, my oldest son, as I mentioned earlier you know, he went through a career center education his junior and senior year in auto and auto repair. And I remember he and I talked and when he graduated, you know, should I, should I pursue my associates degree in auto mechanics? Is it important? Is it not? And. You know, he ended up taking some classes and at the community college level for auto repair, but he learned a ton more through work. And through guys that were, you know, a lot older than him that taught him. And and he had some, you know, kind of corporate training. He's he was a GM mechanic for a long time. So he had some corporate training there and uh, he is a very, very good troubleshooter. He's a very good diagnostic Skye that God wired him to be very good at that, you know, similar to how God's given you. I know you personally, so he's given you those abilities to, to lead people, to develop relationships and do all the things that are important to be successful in their career. You have. So, yeah, I would, I think at the end of the day, if someone's hungry for education and they want to learn and grow and they, they. They're excited to go pursue it, go get it. But I think it's important if it's not something you're passionate about. Don't don't think that you have to, I have to get this education you know, it's not factor.
Nate:you're absolutely right. you kind of mentioned it too. I had this kind of statement. And have you ever heard the statement knowledges?
Jason:Yeah.
Nate:Right. I absolutely think that that is 180 degree flipped upside down. I think applied knowledge is power, right?
Jason:The scripture talks about, you know, knowledge can puff up and just be, you just got a bunch of head knowledge, as you think about the Pharisees, right? These people were super knowledgeable about scripture, but they completely missed. Who Christ was when he came. It was, it was completely useless. Actually. It was, it was probably a negative for them that they had all this knowledge and it pedigrees, but they've completely missed who Christ was and who God really is. And yet Jesus, while he walked the earth was transforming the lives of the uneducated, right? Those that just had the heart, that repented and that saw their need of a savior.
Nate:And then no, you're absolutely right. And not. allowing the last one would be not allowing people to fail. Right. So John Maxwell, I don't know if you've ever read his book failing forward. Right. That's it? Yeah. That's a great book. The other one that I, that I attributed that, that comment to is acres of diamonds. I don't know if you've ever read that book.
Jason:I have not.
Nate:Okay. So the, the premise of that is there's a camera. If it was like a, like a guy or a team or whatever, that basically were mining for diamonds. And so they took all their knowledge. They took everything that they, that they knew from their experience. And they went to this area and they started digging well. They started digging about five feet to not deep enough, basically. And so when somebody else kind of relooked at everything, they said, oh, they just, they just stopped before they, before they, hit it. And then they went out there and dug another five feet and here's an acre of diamonds and they became completely wealthy. So And then I can't remember if there was another book that I read. I can't remember if it was Andrew Carnegie or whatever, but I don't know, if you've ever heard that name, but he was very big in the steel industry. And Kind of the the main person that kind of led that back early in the the early 19 hundreds, late 18 hundreds, early 19 hundreds. But he had he had a gentlemen on his team that made a very costly mistake. And so when he was called to his office he basically was like okay, you know, sorry for the mistake. I know you're going to fire me with. And he said, why are you, why, why would I fire you? Yeah. It was a very costly mistake, but I promise you, you won't do? it again. And if I heard somebody else, they're probably gonna make the, make the same mistake.
Jason:Yeah, I've invested in your training, I think was the point. I remember hearing that story. Yep., I think we talked a little bit about this earlier, but I'd like to I understand how do you honor Christ in your work when you go in and, You're the boss, you're the owner. You're even the owner of the business. What do you do specifically to try to God in the work that you do?
Nate:Kind of discuss it earlier through my, through my actions And interactions with people. So I'm showing people that, they're important and that, that goes to not even, you know, sharing my faith with them, but showing that You know, who, who they are in, in God's image. Right. So if I'm treating people like they're a nuisance to me, right. And then I try to go to and talk to them about life faith, then are they really going to accept it or want to hear it? But if I'm loving to them, they're way more open to perceive, know, some of the information that I'm willing to share with them.
Jason:You mentioned, earlier John Maxwell, who's one of my all time favorites. And he has a saying that I've always remembered us as people don't care how much, you know, until they know how much you care. I'm sure you've seen that And read that, from him.
Nate:yes. Yeah. So it's a, and like I said, just, just asking for, Hey, can we bring. You know what I mean? You're in this difficult situation, just lost love one. And even if they say no, I'm I'm okay. Well just, just let us know that we'll be praying for your family, you know,
Jason:Yeah. That's huge. And being able to do that that's, that's really cool that you get the opportunities to interface with people that way. I know that you're a, you've already talked about some of your favorite leadership books and authors. I know you read And listen to podcasts. Who are some of your favorite authors and what maybe specific books would you recommend for other leaders?
Nate:gosh yeah, John Maxwell is one of my favorites. The magic of thinking big was a huge one Anything by Napoleon hill you know, anybody That's in our, in our culture today. I know I'd never read the book, but I've heard a lot of, a lot of people talk about Sam Walton and his book. And so you can just learn from so many people, you know, it, I mean, there's a million self-help books, right. You can go to Barnes and noble, you've gone online and, you know, pick one out. So it's, it's whatever you want to learn, whether it's, you know, about spirituality, if it's about money, if it's about success, it's it's about leadership. I would kind of look in those different areas, but you know, Napoleon hill I said probably one of my all time, favorite books is magical thinking day.
Jason:Magic of thinking big. And That was from Napoleon hill or is that a different author?
Nate:No, I don't think that's from Napoleon hill.
Jason:Okay. I have not heard of that one No magic of thinking big. That sounds interesting. What advice would you give to somebody just starting their leadership journey? Someone maybe that you're mentoring. Who's, who's just starting down that path.
Nate:Well, I would tell people that first off it's a lonely in leadership. So if you want to get there you're looked at differently amongst your peers. And so you'll even get flack sometimes for that you know, you, Hey, you, used to be my friend and now you're, you're completely different because you're in leadership. No, I'm the same person. You know what I mean? I just have the first spots abilities. Also. I talked a little bit about it earlier, learn from other people's mistakes. I used that minefield example and then also find a mentor. I think you had mentioned that earlier, find a mentor and then also hang out with other successful people that are like-minded as well too. I heard this a long time ago and it stuck with me take the five people that you hang around with the most your income and your life will be very similar to theirs.
Jason:Yeah, I think that has a lot of truth to it. Yeah. I think that even ties in with the mentoring piece, which I'm a huge believer and I have had some guys that I've been mentored by, and now I'm probably doing more mentoring. And maybe that's just where I'm at at my age in life And I, and honestly, that's a huge blessing to me to be able to sit down. And some of the young men from our church I've really been trying to be more active in, in that one-to-one meeting with them over coffee and things like that. But having a mentor, I had one in my career. Who was the most impactful. And we met, it was a formal program even like over 18 months, we'd meet once a week and absolutely transformed how I thought about leadership and leading people and running operations. And I think that having friendships and people we spend time with who help help make us better. That's I mean, that's a lot of the reason I think that the Lord blessed us with the church as we're in that fellowship. Right. And they, they hold us accountable. They disciple us, they encourage us, and we need that relationship in our spiritual walk. And also as we grow as leaders and just as people in our effectiveness for the Lord and our effectiveness and what he's called us to do we have to look very carefully at who we're surrounding ourselves with and who we're spending the time with. So I think that's really good advice. Yeah.
Nate:That, that church environment builds you back up every single week. So,
Jason:Yeah. So you're a pretty young guy. Still. You got a long time, I think before he'll be done working, but you know, it's just think about, there'll be a day when you hang up your full-time professional hat. And what do you hope that people would remember about Nate Lauer, you know, from those that have worked with you?
Nate:So I was thinking about that as well. And for me, it's how many people, families, marriages, souls have we impacted from being in their lives? And I was kind of going through some different scriptures on, on this piece as well. And one that came up was Psalm 71 18. And it says, even when I am old and gray do not forsake me my God until I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come. Like I mentioned, families, how many families have we impacted? You know, I know my family was impacted, you know what I mean? Marriages and, you know, thankfully I grew up in a household where my parents are still married. They've been married for 42 years. But there's been some, some bumps and some bruises and some challenges. But I know so many families that, were hugely impacted because the family unit was destroyed. In good kids that were in the church now don't believe in marriage or, a lot of times, even with our, with our education system, They grew up in a great Christian home, but then they go to college and they leave their faith. And So the other piece that I, that I forgot to mention earlier, too, about the leadership stuff is, you know, we're very involved with our, with our school as well, too. So our kids go to Calvin Christian and I got seat on the board there. And, you. know, it's huge because we're, we're changing and we're, molding young minds to when they get out into the real world, That they have deep roots in their faith. On my way home every single day, there's this, there's this tree. I see that that is, I mean, it was a big tree, but it's completely down off the highway there. And I look at the roots of that tree and the roots were maybe only four or five inches. Well, that big tree did not put its its roots deep enough into the ground to where it could withstand anything. And that's same way. I believe for our kids too. If you raise them up Hopefully they'll, I mean I pray my kids will never leave their faith, but I know that we did everything we could to instill that for the future.
Jason:So that legacy of faith, and then the way that you treat others, you've talked a lot about that, how you interact with others and how you treat them, whether they're within the faith or outside of the faith or some super important to you.
Nate:Yes, sir.
Jason:I've really enjoyed our time together today. I have a lot of respect for you as a, as a small business owner. I know that's again, that's a super challenging thing to do, and you do that really well. And I'm one of your, customers. So I can say from a customer perspective, you take care of your customers and develop that trust with them. So I appreciate you taking time out of your, busy schedule to come and meet with us.
Nate:Yeah, appreciate you having me again. We appreciate you, Jason, and thanks for being a good friend. And also one of our state barn, family insurance as well too.
Jason:All right, man. God bless brother.
Nate:You too. God bless.
Jason:And i appreciate the audience Joining us again this month as we Got to know nate lauer and I. And i hope that you'll subscribe and join us again when we're back Here next month