Built by an agent, for agents.

My story is similar to a lot of agents. I started on the captive side of the insurance industry nearly thirty years ago. The captive environment was a phenomenal foundation. It gave me the training, the tools, the discipline, and the consistency to get launched in the industry.

But after a while, I began to experience things that just didn't feel right. I was building a good book of business, and losing clients to the competition, because the products, services, and rates I could offer were limited to a single carrier. I had a nice book, and my clients were leaving me.

That's when I realized true ownership isn't about running an office. It's about options.

It's about building an asset and having diversified carrier relationships. So I started exploring the independent side. After eleven years as a captive agent, I launched ISG Insurance in 2008, my own independent agency.

The nice thing about being independent is freedom. But at the same time, you're responsible for everything: carrier access, technology, recruiting, operations, compliance. The biggest hurdle for most new independent agents isn't selling insurance. It's gaining access to quality carriers to compete in the market.

That hurdle was true for me too. So I did what most independent agents do. I explored aggregators, clusters, and franchise programs, and landed with one that gave me immediate carrier access and support.

And just like the captive environment, over time I began to experience recurring issues. More fees. More restrictions. The larger I grew, the more control the group had over my business. The larger I grew, the more revenue went to them instead of to my agency. The more successful I became, the less independent I felt.

I looked around and saw the same pattern everywhere. Groups asking agents to pay huge initiation fees just to join. Groups taking 25 to 50 percent of commissions forever. Groups locking agents into non-competes and burying them in exit clauses. Groups keeping the carrier bonuses that should have gone back to the agencies producing the premium.

So I did the only thing that made sense: I built the program I wished had existed.

In 2016, I launched ISG United, a network built on partnership, not control. On support, not greed. On agents owning what they build.

Today, ISG United serves 120+ member agencies across 10 states. We've distributed more than $2 million in profit sharing since 2018. Our contract is still short enough to read in one sitting. Our members still keep 100% of their commissions. Their names are still on their doors.

Every conversation with an agent still starts with our leadership team, and most of them start with Paul. Not a sales desk, not a script. If you want to know how the contract works, ask the person who wrote it.

I built the first version of this. The leadership team that runs it now is the reason it works at 120 agencies instead of 10. When you call, you are talking to them, and they set the terms alongside me.

That's the story. The rest is just execution.