Nichalas Flores was happy with his career at a national consumer electronics retailer. He worked with nice people, earned a steady income and enjoyed the 25% employee discount on anything in the store.
“I was young and had more than enough to buy all the beer and gas I needed,” Nick recalls.
A friend, Guffy Wright, had what turned out to be a better idea. Join me at The Mahoney Group, Guffy told him. The insurance business is growing fast and The Mahoney Group is growing even faster, he said.
So Nick did just that, joining the firm in 2004 as a part-time mail clerk and doing other odd jobs here and there for a few years, all the while observing, taking notes and learning how dynamic the insurance world really can be.
At the same time, some of the more seasoned sales team members at the firm were able to watch Nick in action. He had the intelligence, the affability and, perhaps most crucially, the tenacity to make it as one of them, they told him.
“I was still really young, just 24, and my wife was pregnant with our first child,” Nick recalls. “I could see this was an industry where, if I worked hard enough, I could make a real difference in people’s lives and my own.”
Not surprisingly, Nick’s first year in his new role was challenging. At one point, while heading out of town to meet with a prospective client, Nick realized he didn’t have enough money to cover his hotel room for the night. “I had to call the office so that someone could book my hotel room for me,” Nick says.
It was the right investment to make. Nick’s prospect was impressed by what he saw and signed on the dotted line. Nick was on his way to earning his first big commission check.
Others followed soon after. And after a while, Nick had carved out a territory for himself that included South and North Dakota, Nebraska and much of the rest of the Great Plains region.
He was well on his way in helping make The Mahoney Group the largest insurance and employee benefits brokerage serving Indian Country, a portfolio that, firmwide, today includes more than 350 Native American government entities and businesses.
Recognizing his contributions to the firm’s growth, The Mahoney Group made Nick a partner in the brokerage in 2019. He had earned that spot in part thanks to consecutive years in which his sales exceeded goals and in part because of his work with younger salespeople learning their way in the industry.
Needless to say, Nick feels more than fortunate to have found his niche in the insurance world.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but I really love this business. I get to talk to people, build longstanding relationships built on real trust and I get to help my clients solve the issues causing them the most pain,” Nick says. “It’s not easy but it can be very rewarding.”
Married with two boys, Nick and his wife are building a new home in Gilbert, Ariz. They hope to move in on Valentine’s Day next year.
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