Leading a Business As a Young Professional with Chelsea Flores

In today's episode of The Gateway Connection Podcast, Joey O'Hern is joined by Chelsea Flores, Owner of Chelsea Flores State Farm. Listen in as they discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with leading a business as a young professional, along with some of the advice Chelsea would give to other young professionals.

Thank you for listening today, and thank you to Security Safe for their support of the Gateway Connection Podcast! For more ways to connect with us, visit lnk.bio/gatewaychamber.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Even if you're scared, even if you feel like you don't have all the answers, just start somewhere because it's gonna take some time to build the pieces of the business and you're not gonna know everything at the beginning. You probably won't ever know everything, but start without all the pieces. You don't have to have the perfect team. You don't have to have all the knowledge and know everything because you never will. So start where you're at, start scared, just don't be afraid to actually start.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Welcome to the Gateway Connection Podcast, where we connect you with the movers, shakers, and leaders shaping our region. I'm Joey O'Hearn, executive director of the chamber, and your host. Let's get started. We're incredibly excited to welcome Chelsea Flores to the podcast. Thanks for being here, Chelsea.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yeah, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

So tell everybody what you do, all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

So I have a state farm agency that I've had since 2017. Before that, I worked for another state farm office for about five years. So I just I love Lake City. I love our community and being out and helping people in different ways, not only with the business, but with the community too. I have two babies that I have adopted. Elias is seven and Ava is five. And they keep me busy.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

For those of you who may not know Chelsea, Chelsea is what we would consider a young professional who has a successful steak farm insurance office here. Chelsea, as a young professional, you know, obviously you have a lot going on, you're juggling a lot. But what was one of the biggest hurdles that you faced starting your business and how did you overcome that?

SPEAKER_01 1:34

I think one of the biggest hurdles that I had was finding the right employees that kind of matched my office culture and the values that I have. You know, I'm really big on remarkable customer service and kind of going above and beyond. And I learned the hard way that not everybody feels like that. And so trying to find the right people that matched, you know, the environment that I wanted to set for my office was probably the hardest thing. So you go through a lot of employees when you start a business and firing is not fun, but it's part of it. And I learned that the hard way. I shed a lot of tears. But that was probably the hardest thing I've had to do is find and keep employees.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

And how do you go about building those relationships for long-term success with employees, but also building those relationships with a community?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

So it's not just about the professional setting because my team is more like a family to me. For sure. And that's in with my employees and with my customers, my best friend. And I met through her being a customer of mine. So it's not just professional, it's not just business to me. I take things really personally and develop those relationships on a personal level. And so, you know, I mean, we do have a small office. I have three employees, but I know their significance, others' names, I know their life goals, I know their day-to-day, you know, activities, things that they like to do. And I think building that strong relationship and friendships have helped me to keep them.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

But I also think that extends past your like in-house team. I think you're very personable and strengthening relationships with like the community and your customers. Don't you agree?

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

I mean, I will say, I guess I can say this. Chelsea's my safe farm agent. And the one time I've ever been in an accident, it's nice to know that you can actually call like 1-800 Chelsea and Chelsea herself answers the phone. That's not a real number. Don't anybody try to call that number. But it is nice to know that you are actually the person that you speak to, and it's not, you know, a 1-800 number trying to figure out a scary time for somebody.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah, absolutely. My phone rings at all hours, and for the most part, I answer. People call me on the weekends to add a car or change a car, or because they hit a wild boar or a deer or whatever. And it's driving in the south. Yes. And I love it. I love being able to be there for those moments. And, you know, we do have corporate teams over on the weekends, but that's what sets us apart is that, you know, you have me as your agent. You don't have to call the 800 number.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

For sure. For young professionals out there who are either starting a business or thinking about starting a business or trying to figure out what kind of business they want to start. What's one piece of advice that you wish you would have gotten when you were starting out?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

I think just starting scared. Even if you're scared, even if you feel like you don't have all the answers, just start somewhere because it's gonna take some time to build the pieces of the business and you're not gonna know everything at the beginning. You probably won't ever know everything, but start without all the pieces. You don't have to have the perfect team, like I was, you know, saying before, you don't have to have all the knowledge and know everything because you never will. So start where you're at, start scared, just don't be afraid to actually start.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

But also knowing you the importance, because I know we've talked about this before, finding a mentor and also surrounding yourself with a good tribe of people. Like I know you have a group that you do like a trip with once a year, if you want to talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Yeah, so I'm uh in a group of other Christian women, state farm agents, and we meet twice a year all over the United States, and we network, we share ideas, and we just find ways to help each other. That group has been a really pivotal group for me. They support me not only professionally but personally as well. My favorite thing to tell people is that we we adopted my daughter. We got her in the middle of COVID. She was a October 2020 baby. And so nobody's going anywhere doing anything. And they threw me a virtual baby shower. Oh, that's awesome. So that was just one of the the cool things. But yeah, finding your people who can support you and just be there for you and mentor you and surround yourself around people who are doing better than you because you need to be around people who are where you're wanting to be, not just people who are, you know, not business owners. You need to find people who inspire you to be better.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

For sure. It's never a bad idea to have a support group and a sounding board. I just listened to a podcast the other day and the title was Lonely at the Top. It was emphasizing how when you are the owner, the manager, or the executive, how important it is to have that support group, whether it's locally or virtually, specifically something like you where you have a team that you're reporting to. Insurance isn't always the most exciting topic, but you've built an agency that feels very personal and approachable. How do you make your work meaningful for your clients and how do you keep things fresh?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

I think it just kind of goes back to being more personal. And I try to explain the policies in a way that makes sense for people and makes it less overwhelming because there's so many aspects to insurance and there's so many different coverages. And what that was probably my favorite thing that I did at the office that I used to work at was just sitting down with people face to face and saying, Do you know what your policy covers? Do you know what happens?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Do you know most people are like, No, I just signed where they're exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

And I'm like, Do you know how much you would have to pay out of pocket? And so having those conversations where it makes sense to them and where I'm educating them on their coverages is really important to me. And at the end of the day, I'm helping people protect what they've worked really hard for, their homes, their families, their businesses, their income. You know, that's what makes it meaningful to me. And and I hope that people feel that it's more of a family friend talking to them.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

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SPEAKER_01 7:54

So I want to continue to help people in more ways. And part of that is the community. I want to be more involved in the growth of Lake City and the betterment of Columbia County and just be able to help more people in more ways. And so, you know, I'm really involved right now in the community, but I'm I want to be very intentional on the things that I spend my time and investments and effort in.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

And that was gonna be one of my questions because you're a business owner and a mom and you are involved in a lot. How are you doing at all tools?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

People ask me that all the time, and I'm like, barely. But I think it's just a blend. There's no balance. I don't like to use the word balance because there you can't really balance and give, you know, so much percent of your time to the business and so much percent of your time to your personal life. It's a blend, right? So my kids have gone with me to community events, and it's the cutest thing ever for my daughter to go pass out fans to people at a back to school bash with a little branded state farm shirt on. But it really is a blend. I mean, the kids come to the office sometimes. I mean, they overlap. There, there is no, I don't feel like there's a balance for me. It's a it's a blend because like I said, I have people call me at, you know, six o'clock on a Saturday evening, and I'm like, kids, hold on one second. I gotta go log into my computer. And so it really is blended. It's, you know, but you have to make time for what's important to you.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

For sure. And final question we ask all of our guests this as we wrap up the episode. What is one business or leadership tip you live by or learned the hard way?

SPEAKER_01 9:25

I think the biggest thing for me, and this goes back to something that I struggled with was confidence in the beginning. You know, do it scared is what I said before, but you you have to just embrace it and just go out there and get it done because it's gonna come to you. And like holding on to my faith has been a huge part of it and praying and saying, God, please help me. But doing it scared, and you know, I was listening to a Joyce Meyer podcast the other day, and that's one thing she was saying is that God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called. So, you know, do it scared, have faith and trust in God. And another thing she said was faith is the substance of things unseen. You don't have faith when you see things, you have faith before you see the things. And so if you have this vision, this plan, and you have the faith to do it, you can get it done.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Good deal. That's a good takeaway. Do it scared. Well, thank you, Chelsea, for being here. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time. Yeah, thank you. Thank you again to Security Safe for their support of the Gateway Connection podcast. And until next time, don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a friend for ways to stay connected. Be sure to visit the links on the show notes, and we'll catch you here next time on the Gateway Connection Podcast.