In episode 269 of Rancho Mesa’s StudioOne™ Safety & Risk Management Network Podcast, Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and President Dave Garcia look back at some of Rancho Mesa’s accomplishments in 2022, and hint to new exciting upgrades to come in the new year.

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa News. Brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network StudioOne™.

Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Dave Garcia, president of Rancho Mesa. Today, we're going to look back at some of Rancho Mesa's accomplishments in 2022 and maybe give some hints as to what's on the horizon for 2023.

Dave, welcome to the show.

Dave Garcia: Thanks, Alyssa, super excited to be here and talk a little bit about 22 and maybe forecast a little bit into 23.

AB: [Laughs] So, at the end of the year, we like to look back at our progress and take note of what was successful and maybe what wasn't. So we combed through our data to find our top podcast episodes published in 2022 and out of 103 episodes, the number three most popular episode on the list was number 175, California Prepares to Restore COVID pay, and in that episode my guest was Kevin Howard, our account executive who specializes in commercial insurance for roofing and solar contractors. Now, the number two episode on the list was number 166, Getting to Know Greg Garcia, account executive who specializes in landscape, and our number one episode published in 2022, was episode number 183, Understanding the Dart and the TCR Rates, where I actually interviewed Lauren Stumpf, our media communications and client services specialist.

DG: Wow.

AB: So, I know that's a lot. So looking at all of the episodes that we've done, is there an episode that we did in 2022 that stands out to you?

DG: You know Alyssa, I recognize like, I think this is episode 269. So, it's just amazes me what a great job you and your team have done in putting all these together, and there's any number of episodes that stick out in my mind, but if I had to just choose one, I would say it's not one in particular, but it's getting to know the Rancho Mesa family series of episodes.

AB: Yeah.

DG: It’s been so enlightening to me. I mean, I've interviewed some people here that have worked here for over 15 years, and I'm actually still finding out things about them that I had no idea about, and then there's a lot of the younger, newer people here that I find their backgrounds just crazy interesting. So I think it's those episodes, I feel like this real connection with them and I think we do get to know each other more on a personal level than just a business level. So, I think it's the getting to know the Rancho Mesa family episodes. They're probably my favorites.

AB: I agree, and those get a lot of listens when we do the “getting to know” that individual person, because I think people are really interested in that.

DG: Well, you know, there's just so many, like hidden talents that you're just, people don't just volunteer, you know, on a day to day basis. And I'm finding that we have musicians here, we have singers here, we have craftspeople here, we have martial artist-

AB: Bakers.

DG: Bakers, yeah. I mean, there's just a long, long, long list of really talented people. So, it's really fun.

AB: Yeah, I enjoyed those episodes. So in addition to publishing two podcast episodes per week, our team is also writing articles and in 2022 our account executives wrote over 60 industry articles covering everything from COVID-19 to the dual wage thresholds, in order to educate our clients and the greater community for that matter, about the things that can affect their insurance premiums.

So, why do you think these articles are having such an impact on businesses?

DG: You know, Alyssa I think the articles really impact the business community because the topics that the producers choose are very timely to what's going on in different industries, whether it's a change in that particular industry or maybe it's an overlooked coverage for that industry, or just a better enhancement to a coverage for that industry. I know it's impacted that because I get people reaching out to me that say, hey, I’ve just read this article, and they don't work for Rancho Mesa and they’re not a client of ours, they could be one of our carrier partners. So, it's educational but I think everything we do here at Rancho Mesa, we look at it kind of like an iceberg. There's the obvious, you know, like we're going to publish these articles and that's great, and then there's the not so obvious intent of the article.

And the intent of the article started way back when what we really wanted to do was specialize, and then we wanted to educate our producers within their industries, in part by forcing them to really dig into the actual specific areas of their industries and then write about it.

AB: Yeah.

DG: And then you and your team said, hey, that's great, but let's take those articles and turn them into podcasts as well. So there's so much below the surface of just publishing articles and I know there's many agencies that purchase their articles that they publish and you know, that's all well and good but I think for us we're looking at it in much more than just a “me too, we published an article,” we really want to be the authors and we challenge, you know, our producers to really be the specialist that we want them to be within their industry.

So I'm super excited about what we're going to produce next year.

AB: Yeah, and it shows that they're actually doing the research and they're writing these articles so that not only do they become the subject matter expert, but that they can talk intelligently to their clients about it.

DG: Yeah, and it falls too as they talk with the carriers, you know, when they're negotiating terms for their client and they're speaking from a very high insurance level on the areas of insurance that they're trying to place, that underwriter feels a lot more comfortable in maybe applying a few additional credits because they're talking to somebody that really understands.

AB: Absolutely. So not only does Rancho Mesa try to provide our clients and the community with information, but we're also involved with organizations that directly have a positive impact on people. Our construction group's Vice President, Sam Clayton, is involved with an organization called the East County Posse, and they help to provide a hand up to people in need, and many of our employees volunteer their time. They coach, they mentor, and they provide administrative support to local organizations. How has Rancho Mesa helped the community this year?

DG: Well, you know, Alyssa I think that's always been near and dear to Char’s and my primary goal when we started the company was to make sure that we were focused on, you know, being good business stewards and then having a positive impact within our community, encourage our employees to take leadership roles in different organizations and give their time is very rewarding.

I know you're very involved with Network. Christina Haake here is with the Professional Women in Insurance. We've always had somebody on the board of the IBA, so we really encourage people to do that. Additionally, you know, we volunteer our time, we have different people that coach youth sports, go down to Father Joel's and serve lunch work at the San Diego Food Bank, you know, things like that.

So we always are encouraging those things and then we understand, too, that we have a financial commitment to our community, and so what we do is we target 5%, which is a large number of our profits go back into the community the next year in different forms, all the way from sponsoring a Little League team to sponsoring a golf tournament to spirit of the Barrio with Family Health Centers to Mack Project and their soirée every year.

So we're excited to do that, and it really pleases Char and I that when we look back, we've now given out more than $1,000,000 back to the San Diego community. So we're super proud of that.

AB: Yeah, that’s amazing.

DG: Yeah, and we look forward to the second million. Now, when we did it, we didn't really think it was that impactful, you know, but we know that we want to spread it around, you know. So, it's little sprinkles here and there, but overall, we want to try to impact and change the lives of those people in San Diego community that are less fortunate than we've been here at Rancho Mesa.

AB: Yeah, that's great, and Rancho Mesa not only gives back to the community, but every year the company actually takes a group of employees who have either reached a particular performance threshold or for the administrative staff, have reached certain anniversaries to what is called Summit Club and this past year, the team went to Sedona, Arizona, and I got to attend.

The next group will visit Park City, Utah, in 2023. Where will the next Summit Club be held?

DG: Well, of course, that's a very guarded secret. So we although we have picked the destination, there's only a couple people here within the company that know where that destination is going to be and we hold the kickoff meeting offsite every January for the entire company, and as part of that kickoff meeting we’ll be announcing where the next Summit Club is and what the dates are.

It's usually a Wednesday to a Sunday and I think the thing that's, and you mentioned it a little bit earlier, that's a little bit unique to us is a lot of sales organizations have reward trips for their sales people or in our industry, the producers. And when Char and I started the company, we never really felt like the producer had any bigger impact to the company than any other employee. And so one way that we could define that and make sure that that occurred was to make sure that non-producers were included in these trips. So, what we decided on 25 years ago was that every fifth anniversary of every staff person, so their fifth year, their 10th year, their 15th, they would attend the same trip as the producer with their significant other.

So, the producer has to qualify for it. The staff person qualifies by tenure within Rancho Mesa. I'll tell you what, that's given me more great memories than anything we've done, and when we can walk in and talk to different people about, hey, remember the Jeep ride in Sedona? Remember fly fishing up in the, you know, the Tahoe mountain range and things like that.

It's super fun, and it seems to build that family feel around here.

AB: Yeah, I agree.

DG: Yeah. It's not just all about the producer. So we're excited. So I cannot announce where we're going yet. It will announce that January 6 that our kickoff meeting, I think this year there's three or four non-producers that will be attending, so they'll be excited to find out where they're going. And you know, it's funny, as we grow, that non-producer list grows.

AB: Yeah.

DG: Right? We never really thought that through. We've been very fortunate that people honestly don't leave Rancho Mesa. So we've, we've got people, non-producers here with 15, 20 years of tenure so they've gone on these trips three or four times and they kind of stack. So, you got your five year people, first timers, your tenure, second timers, 15.

So it's super awesome. It's Lori Stone here, who's also our director of accounting. In addition to that, she helps me organize these trips and does a lot of the planning. So when it was a smaller group, it was a lot easier.

AB: Yeah.

DG: Now that it's a larger group, it's a little bit more challenging. But Lori's always up for that challenge.

AB: Yeah, she can really pull off the amazing-

DG: Yeah.

AB: -Feats.

DG: Yeah. You go and you and you just feel like you're king or queen for that five days.

AB: Absolutely, yeah. Alright. So Rancho Mesa also has a big anniversary coming up in July 2023. What will the agency be celebrating?

DG: Yeah, so I mentioned it a little bit earlier, 25. So it'll be our 25th anniversary and I can't believe where the time has gone. You know, when Char and I started this company 25 years ago, we had no idea whether we would be celebrating the second anniversary, and here we are 25 years later and super, super excited about that. So we're really looking forward, we've got a big event planned in July. We'll just be celebrating all of it together again. So it would be super exciting. Looking forward to the next 25.

AB: Yeah, absolutely. We're excited. And you know, 25 years in business is a huge accomplishment and a testament to the leadership team, the dedicated employees, and of course, our clients who put their trust in Rancho Mesa and that trust translates into a successful agency. So, how did the agency do overall in 2022?

DG: So overall, in 2022, we had a really, really good year. We had our largest new business year ever. So that was exciting. Some of our younger producers just had exceptional years and our veteran people all contributed. So that was really, really exciting. The challenges that we've all have gone through over the last couple of years with the impacts of COVID, I think we're still trying to adjust to that. But I think as time has gone on, we've managed that transition really well. So I'm really proud of that fact. So overall, Rancho Mesa had a terrific year. We grew, we were profitable, so we're looking forward to 2023.

AB: Yeah, and we've definitely had a growth spurt this year. The surety group has doubled along with the growth in our green team and our admin staff. We're nearly out of space again. So back in March of 2022, we announced that Rancho Mesa would be moving into a new office in San Diego's Mission Valley, giving us the opportunity to bring everybody back from the Santee and La Mesa offices into one location.

How close is that dream to becoming a reality?

DG: Well, you know what? It's a lot closer than it was last March. I'm going to tell everybody if we don't have any delays, we'll be moving in March 10th and opening the doors that following Monday, March 13th. So it's just around the corner. I couldn't be more excited. The space will be phenomenal. Char has done an amazing job and in designing it and furnishing it and all of those things.

But I think the piece of furniture, so to speak, that's been missing are the people, and I'm most excited, as beautiful as that office is going to be, I'm super excited to bring everybody back into one office and just feel that that energy that that brings.

AB: Yeah I think everyone is looking forward to that.

DG: Yeah, across the board, you know, that's going to mean changes in commutes for some people. Some will get shorter, some get a little bit longer but I think overall the impact is going to be phenomenal, and I can't wait, you know, I can't wait. 2023 is going be a really busy year.

AB: Yes, absolutely. And with the anticipated move to Mission Valley, our client services group has already begun hosting a monthly workshops at the Mission Valley Library that's located just a few minutes’ walk from the new office. In 2022 we've hosted over 50 workshops and webinars as part of our client services offerings. What's new for client services in 2023?

DG: Well, I know where you're going with that. So in addition to some more terrific workshops and webinars, we have something kind of cooked up that we're going to launch that I'm not going to mention today for 2023. We’ll announce that at our kickoff meeting. I will give you some hints. To my knowledge, this is a tool for our clients to be able to use that no other agency that I'm aware of in the United States offers to their clients, and I think it's going to be super impactful for them. And the best part of it is our client services team, Alyssa, which you lead, is going to be the team that's going to be implementing this new tool. So enough said about that, super excited about that.

You guys will not have a boring 2023 producing videos and podcasts and editing articles and conducting workshops and trainings and all the other things, but we are going to add one more thing to your plate, just not going to see what it is.

AB: [Laughs] I know and we are very excited. We will be announcing very soon what is coming up, so we're really excited about that. So there are so many things to be proud of over the last 12 months and so much to look forward to in 2023. And I am just excited about the New Year and everything that it's going to bring and I think that you are as well.

DG: I'm pumped. And if you can't, you know, see me through this mic you can certainly hear me. I can't wait. It's going to be crazy busy, which is how I like it.

 AB: Yeah.

DG: And you know, we've trademarked long time ago One of One™, because we're always trying to reach that next bar. We don't know what the bar is, and it doesn't exist because our challenge here, which I challenge everybody is think out of the box, dream your dreams, and let's achieve those dreams together, and I think 2023, when you just rattle off the first six months of what's going to happen, that's enough for 25 years of work. But we're going to get it done in six months. So I'm super excited about 2023. Ready to turn the page, let's go.

AB: All right. I love it. So, Dave, it's always a pleasure and thank you for joining me in StudioOne™.

DG: Thank you, Alyssa and one thing that we didn't mention is that the new office, you're going to have your own studio built out as a studio only.

AB: Yes.

DG: So, super excited to launch that. You'll see pictures, everybody.

AB: Yes, we are getting a dedicated studio.

DG: Yeah, It's going to be awesome. Thanks Alyssa for your time today.

AB: Thanks, Dave.

This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.